Sly Cooper: Rise of Vixen
by Yoshumari Korisuno
Summary: Three years after the defeat of Le Paradox, Carmelita Fox is still searching for her beloved thief in secret. When a case calls her to Egypt after a new thief named Dead Shot, she accidentally finds a clue leading to Sly's whenabouts. Forgetting about the case, she pursues this lead, only to be stopped. She is then faced with a choice with what she must do in order to get Sly back.
1. Pilot

_Fox, Carmelita M., June 10th__2016_

_Paris_

_It's been three years since Sly disappeared. The short time I spent together with Sly on the right side of the law was nice, and I may have been kidding myself into thinking that he had changed, but deep inside, I felt as if I had lost a piece of my life without having to chase him. But something else came of it, something deeper._

_My work at Interpol has helped ease Sly's loss, but I just can't let him go. I keep waking up every morning, half expecting, half hoping that a report from Interpol will come with Sly's M.O. written all over it, but each time, I'm forced to realize that he is indeed gone._

_Interpol allowed me the use of their facilities for a year while I searched for him, but as that year was winding down, I couldn't find a single thing leading to Cooper's whereabouts and eventually had to officially give up the search. Unofficially I still look for any clues on my vacation time, but still I have yet to find so much as a hint._Carmelita sighed as she finished her journal entry, saving the document and stowing it away in the deepest part of her hard drive before leaning back in her chair and looking up at the ceiling.

Three years: had it really been that long already? Carmelita reached her arms above her head to stretch, her eyes being drawn to the frayed photo she found in the wreckage that had fallen from Paradox's blimp depicting her caught by surprise when Sly kissed her on the cheek, making a small sad smile spread across her face. She missed those strong arms of his around her, his soft fur against her cheek, or the way he would smirk at her every time she walked into the room. Carmelita had done everything that she could, and yet there was nothing to show for it. Carmelita was then shocked out of her trance when a knock on her office door came.

"Come in." she called, as her boss walked in.

"There's someone by the name of Mr. Shell here to see you Ms. Fox." Carmelita's face lit up, surprised when Bently wheeled in.

"Hey Carmelita, how've you been? I haven't seen you in a while and just wanted to make sure you're doing alright." He called in his stuffy nosed voice, leaning up in his chair a bit to give her a hug after walked around her desk to greet him.

"I've been hanging in there. Most of the international criminals have been locked up, and now only amateurs are running around trying to fill his place. What about you and Murray?" She asked, her Spanish accent somewhat conflicting with her French accent after being in Paris for so long.

"I've been searching non-stop. I know it may seem like he's not there, but I know that Sly would never give up on any of us, so it's the least I can do for him. Murray's actually on his way to a heavy weight belt this year." Carmelita laughed slightly, imagining the big purple hippo sporting a huge gold belt buckle, flexing as hard as he could for the camera.

"I have no doubt he'll do it. So what brings you to this part of the neighborhood? I know you're not her to turn yourself in." she asked.

"I came here to give you this. I found it while cleaning up some of Sly's stuff that had fallen over." Bently answered, holding out a yellowing, folded up piece of paper when Carmelita's boss walked in.

"Hey Fox. Dead Shot is at it again."

"Dead Shot? Didn't he just go away for that heist in Japan?" she asked, tucking the paper in her skirt pocket and reaching for her trusty shock pistol.

"He was, but someone broke him out. Dimitri says Dead Shot and whoever was helping him stowed away on a plane headed for Egypt." Carmelita reached to one of her many filing cabinets and pulled out his file so she could refresh her memory as she went.

"Alright, I'll be on my way in a few." She called, leaving Bently and Carmelita alone for a minut, where she forgot that Bently was there and silently hung her head while a single tear rolled down her snout.

"You still think about him don't you?" Bently asked, rolling over to her and took hold of her hand.

"Wha- di…" but her attempts to explain away what she had unknowingly revealed were for naught, closing her eyes and nodding slowly.

"I'm sure that wherever or whenever Sly is, he's thinking about you too." Bently said, patting her hand before opening the door and rolling out, Carmelita close behind as she got into her car and drove to the airport. Memories from long ago came rising to the surface of her mind; the first time she had ever heard the name Sly Cooper when she was fresh out of the academy. Her following the damned ringtail all over the world, only to have to settle for the criminals he had so aptly taken down; even their first kiss after bringing down that mechanical warlock Clockwerk, which honestly took her by surprise. But there was something more that she missed; it wasn't the chasing or the near captures. Through all those years she realized that in a way, it was fun. When she was finally aboard the plane and sitting down in her seat, she heard the note in her pocket crumple. Quickly she stood back up and pulled it from her pocket, opening it up carefully so as not to tear the aged paper when something fell out of it and under the seat. With a quick move she reached down and pulled out an expensive looking diamond ring.

For a moment she was entranced by the finely etched designs into the band that swirled and curled around her first name, written in a fine calligraphic font. She finally remembered the note when the flight attendants begin speaking, giving all the passengers the oh- so-boring safety run through. To drown out their voices, she turned her attention to the note, reading the neat print scrawled onto the paper which looked more like a personal script.

_1\. Take her out to an early dinner_

_2\. Walk around town, making small talk_

_3\. Take her to the Eiffel Tower._

_4\. Begin just as sun sets_

_My dear Carmelita: we've know each other for quite some time. And while our meetings in the past may not have been under the best of circumstances, I learned to enjoy our little rendezvous. But these past two years have made me realize that while our relationship may have been fun, it was lacking. I've wanted to ask you this for some time but I felt that stealing you a ring would ruin everything you stand for, and what I would love to build. And so after a few months of hard work, I've purchased this ring in hopes of asking you this one question:_

_Note: kneel at this part cooper!_

_Carmelita Montoya Fox, will you marry me?_

Tears began to well up in her eyes as she finished the note, wiping one of them away and holding up the ring to the light, almost able to see Cooper kneeling before her with this ring in his hand, eager for her answer.

"_Damn you ring tale._" She thought as she smiled and slipped the ring onto her finger; a perfect fit. Emotions within her heart began to run wild as she bowed her head, softly crying as the roar of the plane's engines rose. Half way through the flight, she fell asleep drifting away into dreams of Cooper and his daring capers _all the while her giving chase. And every time she was about to catch him, he would simply disappear in a puff of smoke when she was suddenly stopped, feeling Sly's hands around her waist and his chin resting on her shoulder._

_"I hear you've been looking for me?" he asked. She was about to answer, but her voice wouldn't make any noise, turning around to face him only to find him gone._

_"You've gotten rusty Inspector." Sly said, making her whirl around again to see him standing on the balcony railing, saluting before jumping off as she reached for him_, waking her with a start and the plane began its decent into Egypt. The endless dunes reminded her of the rather uncomfortable performance she gave for a group of apes while they were in Arabia during their visit to Sly's ancestor Salem al Coopar. She never revealed it to any of them, especially Sly, that in the final seconds of that dance she was secretly trying to catch Cooper's eye. Once the plane had landed and she disembarked, she was quickly taken to the Egyptian Interpol office, where she briefed all the officers there about Dead Shot: Nothing more than a trigger happy punk looking for his next score, but a very good shot. His estimated spread was 4 inches at 600 yards, with a pistol.

Carmelita was then escorted to the museum, where she was briefed about the piece that had been stolen: a small portion of ancient Egyptian art from the days of Tutankhamen, estimated at $4.6 million, leaving behind a badly constructed sign in the painting's place. Carmelita let out a frustrated growl; it wasn't because it was another criminal she had to hunt down, but because there were so many thieves out there that were mere _pretenders_ of what Sly was, even trying to copy his signature of leaving behind a masked raccoon badge at his conquests. As she calmed herself, her eye caught something familiar off to the side on another tablet. She walked over to it, looking closer at the worn pictures seeing the all too familiar crook of Sly's cane. The sight made her smile, but what she saw next made her blood run cold.

As she panned her vision to the left, she saw the unmistakable image of Sly with a large jewel in his hand and right behind him, a platoon of guards giving chase. Carmelita quickly covered her mouth with both hands, stifling her joy, or sorrow, or… oh she didn't know what to feel! Frustrated she left the museum, telling those that had come with her that she was going back to the office to look up some old records and maybe get a lead on Dead Shot. Instead she began madly searching the data banks of Interpol for anything related to Sly, all the way from his father up until he disappeared. When she found a file that looked promising and went to open it, she was promptly blocked off by a security clearance warning.

"_Security clearance? Since when did I need a security clearance?"_ she thought, trying to open another file, but again getting the same security clearance warning.

"What's going on here!" she shouted, slamming her hands down on the desk. No sooner had she finished, than a very important looking Doberman walked through the door.

"Ms. Fox, is it?" he asked with a smooth tone.

"Who are you?!" Carmelita demanded, drawing her pistol and charging the capacitors to maximum. The Doberman held up his hands and tilted his head slightly.

"Easy there Fox. My name is Darius Hunter, I'm here at the request of the F.B.I." he said, reaching into his pocket and producing a badge.

"What would the United States F.B.I. want with in Interpol Officer?" she demanded, lowering her pistol but still keeping her aggressive stance.

"We caught your searches on Sly Cooper through the Interpol's database; apparently not everyone got the memo concerning his files." Hunter answered, walking in further and placing a card on the desk.

"All files concerning Sly Cooper have been seized by the F.B.I., and any remaining files and or evidence concerning him are to be turned over to them in the event that more are found. Also his accomplices Murray and Bently are under investigation." Carmelita raised an eyebrow and holstered her pistol; something about this Darius Hunter didn't sit right with her.

"Sly was nothing more than a thief, why the sudden interest by the F.B.I.?" she questioned.

"I'm sorry to say but that's classified, and only those that have been given the, proper, clearance are allowed to view his files. You haven't found anything, have you?" Hunter asked, leaning down to her, close enough that Carmelita could smell the overpowering cologne he wore.

"No, I haven't." Hunter turned his head slightly, narrowing his eyes at her for a while.

"Alright. If you do find anything, call the number on that card." Hunter said, walking out of the office, leaving Carmelita with a deep sense of mistrust rooted deep in her gut. There was something wrong about him, but she couldn't tell what. Upon returning to the museum to hopefully get a better look at the tablet she had seen, Carmelita was promptly greeted by two more F.B.I. officers who informed her that the investigation would be taken over by them. She tried to get through by showing them her badge, but again she was turned down and even escorted away.

She _had_ to get another look at that tablet, maybe even get Bently to look at it and possibly decrypt the words on it. But she couldn't risk it since the F.B.I. was looking into him too; any type of exposure could lead to his arrest.

"What to do, what to do!" she asked herself over and over again, pacing in her office until she thought the floorboards would break, slamming her hands on the desk when she couldn't think of any legal way to get into that museum and get Bently to look at it without him getting possibly caught. Then her eye caught the ring on her finger as it reflected the light into her eyes for a moment.

"No, I can't…" she said aloud, realizing that someone might be listening to her. What choice did she have though? She had found a clue to when sly was and it offered her a chance to get him back. The only thing standing in her way was the very thing that she had fought so hard to uphold; The Law. With a huff she sat down and stared up at the ceiling, holding up her hand and turning it this way and that to watch the light reflect off the gold.

With a disappointed sigh, she lowered her hand to the bridge of her nose and shook her head.

"_I can't believe I'm doing this…_" she thought, going to the roof, pulling out her cell phone and dialing Bently's number, given to her soon after Sly's disappearance so they could all keep in touch.

"Bently? It's Carmelita. Good, and you? Listen, I know this is going to sound loco, but I need you to come to Egypt… there's just something I want to ask you in person… you have connections for transport right? Alright, I'll be waiting for your call."

* * *

Updated - Better ending

**I'm trying my hand at another fandom. I stumbled across the Sly games when I saw a picture on dA of Carmelita, and since then have been sporadically gathering information about them. I don't know how long this story will be, or even if I'll finish it, but if you like it, let me know and I'll continue. **


	2. Chapter 1

Carmelita and the Gang In: A Star is Born

Two days Later

"You want to_ WHAT?!" _Bently nearly screamed, his voice echoing through the culvert Carmelita had chosen as a meet up point after receiving Bently's call once they had landed.

"I need your help in stealing an artifact from the local museum." She answered again, staring into the lax jaw faces of Bently and Murray. It took a while, but the two of them were finally able to pull their faces together and wrap their minds around what it was that Carmelita was asking them to do.

"Carmelita, I know that you miss Sly, but becoming a thief; I don't think is something that you want to do!"

"And why not Bently?" She huffed, putting a hand hard on her hip, while holding the other high into the air.

"Listen to what you're saying Carmelita!" Murray interjected as Bently picked up where he left off.

"Murray's right Carmelita: I don't think you've thought this who thing through!" Bently argued, receiving an annoyed sigh from Carmelita in return.

"Why? It always seems to work for you guys!"

"That's not what I'm saying!" Bently screamed, the arms of his wheelchair reaching out and gripping her shoulders firmly.

"I don't think you've thought of the ramifications of your actions: your days as an Interpol Inspector would be over; you'd never be able to work in any kind of law enforcement ever again! If you do this, you'd only have two choices: go to jail, or constantly be on the run." Carmelita calmed and looked away: she had been so focused on a chance to get Sly back, that she had completely ignored what it would mean for her if she were to steal something.

"I… I just want sly back." she said with a subdued tone, reaching over and grabbing her arm while looking to the ground, torn by her choice once again. On the one hand, she was presented with a golden opportunity to have her beloved thief back, but on the other it meant that the life she had lived as a law enforcement officer would be over. Never again would she feel the satisfaction of putting a criminal behind bars, or busting major art and weapons dealers because she'd be one herself. Bently sighed, retracting the arms, pushing up his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose as he sighed hard.

"I know how you feel. But this is a life changing decision."

"Bently's right Carmalita. My master The Guru once told me though that in the end, you have to follow your heart. Why do you think it was so easy for 'The Murray' to join back up with Sly when we went to stop Le Paradox?" Murray asked. Carmelita closed her eyes, listening to the world around her; she knew what her heart was telling her to do, but reality was showing her what kind of life she would lead if such a decision was made.

"No truer words were spoken Murray. Look, take a day a really think about what you're asking of us here. I know you want Sly back, but I wouldn't want you to do it at the expense of resenting him for turning you against the very thing you've fought for so long." Bently sighed, watching the visible torture that Carmelita had been thrown into.

"Like I said take a day to really think about what you want to do here. Murray and I will scout out the museum anyway. What is it exactly you want to get so badly?" Bently asked.

"It's a tablet in the middle of the west wing; you'll know it what you see it." she said so quietly that Bently almost had to break out his sound collector to hear her.

"We'll meet back here in 24 hours." Bently said with an understanding nod, putting a hand on hers for comfort.

"Like Murray said Carmelita, follow your heart." The sentiment made Carmelita smile as the two of them left. The trip back to her office went by much quicker than she realized as she was lost in her thoughts, only to be brought abruptly down to earth when she entered her dark office and was shoved into her chair, quickly surrounded by the darkness once again as her door was slammed shut. She reached for her shock pistol, but her hand missed it then looked up to see it in the hands of a strong looking gorilla before it was crushed.

"So, you do know something." A familiar voice said, making Carmelita whirl around to see Darius Hunter standing against the window, the only part of his silhouette visible being his angry, unnatural yellow eyes.

"What are you talking about?!" she shouted, promptly pulled down into her seat hard by one of the gorillas.

"Oh, playing dumb are we?" Hunter asked, his hand rising in the low light coming through the blinds of her office where a cascading click was heard as white nose played for a moment.

"_Bently?"_

_"Yes this is he."_

_ "It's Carmelita."_

_"Carmelita! How are you doing?!"_

_" Good, and you?"_

_"Very well if I do say so…"_

_"Listen, I know this is going to sound loco__…"_ as each word on the tape played, Carmelita's eyes became wider and wider in horror until Darius snapped off the tape.

"You bugged my phone?!" she shouted, getting ready to get up only to be roughly brought back down to a seated position.

"I told you that not only Sly under investigation, but also his associates Bently and Murray are wanted fugitives. With this tape, we know that they're here in Egypt and your 'stepping out' this afternoon only confirms it. So tell me Ms. Fox…" Darius asked with a smooth tone before slamming his hands down on the arms of the chair, hovering just in front of touching Carmelita's nose with his own.

"Why would you, the most esteemed member of Interpol, hesitate to arrest two known associates of the infamous Sly Cooper?" Darius asked, narrowing his eyes as he waited for an answer when something clicked in Carmelita's head.

"I thought you said that Bently and Murray were under investigation; why now are they fugitives?" she asked. The question seemed to shake Darius slightly as he tilted his head as if trying to think over the last few words he had said before grinning and standing back up, walking to the window.

"Very good, you're sharp as ever Inspector. Ress, Julian, let's go." He called to the gorillas as he stepped out the door, turning back to her before closing it completely with a grin. Rage began over taking her, reaching under the chair and grabbing for her spare shock pistol, but it too was gone. With a frustrated shout she slammed her fists on her desk so hard that the sides of her hands burned, but she did nothing as her gaze fell to the ring on her finger. She had decided: The adventure through time with the Cooper gang had given her a small glimpse into the life the three of them led, how close nit they were, and how they had accepted her as part of that family.

She had spent a large part of her life relying on only one person when she was orphan as an early teenager; herself. Secretly she longed for the embrace of family again, and for a while she thought she had found it in the 'brothers and sisters' of Interpol, but eventually realizing that they were co-workers, comrades. The acceptance she felt with the Cooper Gang; _that_ was family, and she wasn't about to let it go, or the love she felt for her thief. The next day, she met up with Bently and Murray in the same culvert, being sure to watch for and lose any tail that was on her before meeting up with them.

"Well Carmelita, what did…"

"I'll do it. I don't care that I'll be chased by Interpol, the FBI, or any agency for that matter. My family is, and always has been with you guys." She said, even before Bently could finish.

"And here I thought I'd have to try and convince you otherwise." Bently chuckled as Murray wrapped Carmelita in a tight bear hug.

"'The Murray' is glad to have you around again Carmelita!" he yelled, making her cringe as not only her body was being squeezed under his grip, but also his shouting in her ear.

"Ok Murray, I get the point, now could you put me down?" she wheezed, feeling like she had to straighten her arms out after the hug.

"Sorry Carmelita, I'm just glad to have you back. You made Sly really happy every time he saw you." Murray said with a smile, making a bit of blush come to Carmelita's cheeks.

"Alright. Bently, what's the plan?" she asked.

"First things first: we need a safe house; there's no way we'd be able to pull this off without one." He replied, the holographic laptop projecting out of one of his armrests and easily hacking into a satellite, surveying the area for potential safe houses.

"Alright, what else beyond that? What about that tablet I told you about?" Carmelita asked impatiently.

"You were right on the money with that one Carmelita: that tablet depicts Sly alright in ancient Egypt on a caper, but I'd need to get an up-close look at it to see when it was made."

"Why would you need to do that? Couldn't we just swipe the thing and put in your time machine, taking us right to when Sly is?" Carmelita asked. Bently and Murray both looked at each other, with looks that spoke volumes.

"You do still have the Time Machine, right?" Carmelita asked. With a weak smile, Bently looked back to her and began scratching the back of his head.

"That's another problem entirely. A week before I got your call, Murray's van was stolen from my lab. I hadn't taken out the Time Machine out because it was such a hassle to get it in there in the first place. We did find the van, but the Time Machine had been stripped from it. And if that weren't enough, someone hacked my own private server and stole the only copy of the Time Machine blueprints I had." Carmelita sighed hard, clenching her fists as tight as she could.

"You mean to tell me that only copy you kept was digital?!" she shrieked.

"No no, I had a hard copy, but it burnt up in an accidental fire at my lab." Bently answered, trying to visibly calm Carmelita whose face was slowly rotating through shades of red as her grip tightened on the handle of her shock pistol until she fell to her knees. Every turn she made to get Sly back seemed to be nothing but dead end.

"But don't give up yet Carmelita; there's still the tablet. It's a start. Who knows, maybe we'll even uncover clues about where the Time Machine went." Murray said with a cheerful tone. Carmelita sighed and nodded: it was a start, though a grim one.

"Alright, here's the plan: Murray and I intercepted a radio transmission from the lead guard at the museum, saying that they were going to be moving the tablet in two days, so until then here's what you'll be doing." Bently said, turning to Carmelita and holding out to her the Theivious Racoonous.

"But… This is…"

"Listen, all your life you've known the law. Now, you're going to have to learn life on the other side. You had a small taste of that life when we were traveling through time, but now you're going to have that life permanently. If you want to know how to be the best, this is the best place to start." Bently said, dropping the book into Carmelita's hands.

"This thing is heavier than it looks." She said, flicking the lock off and opening its pages for a few moments before closing it and setting it on a nearby rock.

"Two days isn't a lot of time guys. I need someone to teach me." Bently put his hand over his mouth for a moment, scratching his chin as he thought.

"That won't be easy since most of the thieves you could learn from are either in jail or want to kill you." Bently thought hard for a few more minutes, breaking out his laptop and searching through every criminal database he could for anyone that i_might/i_ be willing to teach Carmelita at least the very basics. After 10 minutes, Bently finally stopped his search with a sigh and pushed back his hat to wipe away the sweat.

"Alright, I've looked through every database around the globe, and I've found only one I think might be willing to teach you. His name was actually in the Interpol Database: the only alias it gives is 'Ryu'." The name made Carmelita think for a few moments as the name sounded familiar.

"Ryu…. Ryu… why does that name sound so familiar?" she asked herself, cradling her chin and pacing when Bently spoke up after digging a bit into the files on him.

"This might help: his real name is Ivan Castor Davis. A wolf acclaimed to be one of the best thieves in the entire world, up there with Sly and few other names. It's also said that he's the only one out there that can make Muggshot shake in his boots." As Bently spoke, remembrance came to Carmelita as she snapped her fingers.

"Yes, now I remember. I tried to bust him for that major bank heist just before Sly ran off with you guys."

"Very true Carmelita. But despite the evidence, the courts couldn't tie him to anything, and he was set free. According to my sources on Thief Net, Ryu recently retired from the thieving life after his granddaughter Sicilia was born and has actually been living in north Egypt." Bently looked through a few more pages of information when he noticed that Carmelita was deep in thought.

"Do you really think he'd even let me talk to him?" Carmelita asked. Murray shrugged, flexing his arms soon after.

"You never know. You'd be surprised how cooperative other thieves can be once you've knocked their heads around for a bit." Murray answered as he flexed. Bently smacked his forehead making Carmelita crack a small grin, her thoughts being drawn into what Sly would have said in this kind of situation.

"Murray, Ryu isn't one to be trifled with. Besides, his best work is known for breaking into Fort Knox through the front door." Bently explained.

"I remember that: how did he evade prosecution on that one?!" Carmelita exclaimed, only to be met with Bently waving his hand as though to brush off the question.

"That's beside the point. You're going to have to at least get him to talk to you. According to my research, he has an insatiable desire for Dill Pickles. If you come to him with one, it should at least get his attention. But after that, it's all up to you." Bently said, one of the mechanical arms of his wheel chair reaching into the back compartment and pulled from it a jar of pickles, handing it to Carmelita.

"Pickles? Seriously?" she asked with a somewhat disgusted look on her face.

"It's the only thing I can think of that might work. Here's where he lives right now. You go and learn; Murray and I will keep an eye on the Tablet." Bently said with a smile. Before she left, Bently grabbed one of her hands and made sure that she looked him in the eyes.

"I want you to be absolutely sure that you want to do this Carmelita; your life will change drastically from this point on." He said, almost as giving her one last chance to stop and continue on as an Interpol Inspector.

"I've given everything to Interpol, fighting like hell to bring criminals to justice. In the end, the only thing it did for me was tell me to let Sly go. I can't do that knowing there is a way to get him back and with all this new interest in him by the FBI…" Bently's and Murray's eyes went wide, obviously taken aback by the news of the FBI being interested in Sly.

"What do you mean?! What do they want with him?" Bently asked.

"I don't know Bently. But until I come back and get that tablet, just try and keep a low profile." She answered, leaning down to Bently and kissing his forehead, then turning and kissing Murray on the cheek.

"I'll learn as much as I can." Carmelita called, grabbing the Thievious Racoonous and trotting away as fast as she dared, ready to find this 'Ryu'.

* * *

Ivan chuckled to himself as Sicilia brought him something she had found in the garden of his lavish home, making up some story about how it had magical properties and that if one were to make it into a necklace, then that person would be a prince or princess. Sicilia eagerly smiled, then ran back to where Ivan kept a large supply of supplies for her to play with ranging from simple buttons and glue to wire and pipe cleaners that would keep her busy for hours.

"I never thought that I'd see the day you'd come to me with your tail between your legs Inspector." Ivan smiled, looking up from handing Sicilia a few bright red pipe cleaners.

"But I suppose there is a first for everything. Please, sit." He offered, pulling out a chair at the table for her as she pulled a red back pack from her shoulders. Ivan then sat down across from the table and folded his hands, resting his chin on them and locking gazes with her, making her feel somewhat uneasy.

"I doubt you've come to arrest me, seeing as you've brought such an irresistible gift with you." He observed, turning his gaze to the jar of pickles sitting on the table next to where Carmelita sat. Another few uneasy minutes passed, the noise of Sicilia's work being the only thing keeping the room from total silence.

"I need your help." Carmelita finally answered, shoving the jar towards him with a firm push. Ivan caught it without taking his gaze from her and raised his eyebrows.

"Now this is something that doesn't happen every day. What is a well renowned Interpol officer doing coming to a well known thief for help? I see you didn't even bring your badge or shock pistol." He asked, opening the jar and taking out a pickle.

"I want to become a thief." Ivan nearly spit the ground up pickle all over the place in response, forcibly swallowing as Sicilia looked up and giggled.

"Grampa you're funny." She said as Ivan wiped his mouth and smiled.

"I'm glad you think so. Why don't you take this necklace to grandma and see if she will help you finish?" he said, kissing her forehead as she left before becoming serious.

"Why would you want me to teach you this? You've tried to put me away more times than I can count." Ivan countered, sitting lopsided in his chair making Carmelita feel even more uncomfortable: oh how she wished she had brought her shock pistol with her.

"Will you do it or not; that what I am asking, I don't need to explain myself to a…" Ivan cut her off, looking at her from under his lowered brow.

"Watch what you say, Ms. Fox. You may have some coercion as an agent of the law, but the moment you came to me as just another citizen you lost your right to demand things. The world you want to be a part of, it's not a world that you can simply dive into and begin making demands; you have to _EARN_ that right. So I will ask you again, why do you want to become a thief?" He asked with a quiet, but intimidating tone.

"I don't have time for this." She huffed, picking up the bag and beginning to walk out when Ivan called out behind her.

"It's Cooper isn't it?" Carmelita stopped and laid her ears back, her heart skipping a beat as she heard Ivan chuckle.

"It's written all over your face Ms. Fox. I can see that lonely desperation behind the mask you put on. But that isn't the only reason you've come to me, is it?" Ivan prodded. Carmelita sighed and hung her head looking into the air before her as if to ask what Sly would do in this situation.

"The people that I've dedicated my life to, the very thing that I have been fighting _for_ all this time, is the one thing that has sucked the life out of me. I've given so much to it, and the only thing my life in Law Enforcement has given me are long lonely nights." She turned around and almost shamefully walked back to the table and set her bag on the chair she was sitting at.

"When I first met Cooper, it was like a breath of fresh air and became something that I looked forward to. I felt alive! But now that he's gone, I'm back to that same dead grind. I feel empty, lost, alone: I just want Cooper back. I don't think I could go on without him." Ivan sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. For a long while an uncomfortable silence fell over them until Ivan chuckled and shook his head.

"You are really something Inspector Carmelita. Had you given me a different answer, I would have shot you where you stand. But your reasoning has given me an interest." He answered, standing to his full height and putting his hands behind him.

"I've brought this if you think that it will help." Carmelita said, reaching into her bag and placing the Thevious Racoonous on the table with a hard, hollow thud. Ivan's eyes widened slightly when he saw the old book and walked over to it, placing a large hand on the weathered cover almost longingly.

"Is this what I think it is?" He asked.

"Yes, this is Cooper's Thevious Racoonous." Ivan dropped a thumb over the edge of the cover, fighting his want to open the book and finally learn the secrets from one of the greatest thieving families of all time. But he smiled to himself and picked up the book instead and put it back into Carmelita's bag.

"As much as I would love to have a look at what the secrets are to his family, I have too much respect for him. Besides, my teaching you the secrets of the Thevious Racoonous would be like you teaching a Homicide Investigator how to be an Interpol Officer. I'll teach you i_my_/i tricks, but if you want to learn Cooper's tricks, you'd need to learn from him." he said, motioning for her to follow him.

"Oh, and I think that I should mention that I only have two days." Carmelita announced as Ivan stopped at a door and smiled at her while reaching for the handle.

"Then I suppose we should get started." The door led to a dimly lit empty room. Carmelita reached for her shock pistol out of habit when her hand missed the cool titanium grip, then noticed the weight missing from her leg where she usually holstered it.

"The first thing we need to do is get you some different clothes. A thief's appearance is just as important as a Thief's reputation and results of their work. Phineas!" Ivan called. A well dressed weasel with a stiff posture came out of the shadows and bowed to Ivan.

"Take this young lady here and give her something that will better fit her new trade. It will give me time to prepare a lesson or two." Phineas bowed stiffly then motioned for Carmelita to follow him as he turned and stiffly walked back towards the shadows where a double door opened into a tailor's shop. Immediately after the doors closed, Phineas reached into his pocket and pulled out a long tape measure, wrapping it around Carmelita's body as though he were a ninja.

Carmelita tried to protest his somewhat handsy approach, but before she knew it Phineas had competed his measurements and began working furiously. Thread and bits of fabric flew everywhere as the glint of needles and scissors flashed in and out of Carmelita's sight. He only seemed to slow down for a moment when he was attaching one piece to another only to speed back up once he was done.

A few moments more passed as she went to look around at the other bolts of fine fabric that stood all around them. She was about to look closer at a fine wine colored satin when Phineas grabbed her shoulder, pulled off her jacket, spinning her around in a whirl that tossed her clothes and necklace off. Before she came to a stop, she felt something pulled onto her finding that she was now dressed in a close fitting, full covering black outfit complete with a hood, eye mask, tail sleeve, soft soled heals and a facemask that doubled as a neck warmer. She turned this way and that, trying to figure out how Phineas had pulled on these clothes without so much as a blink.

"How did you…" But Phineas didn't answer as he motioned for her to follow and stiffly walked back out into the training room.

"Ah, Carmelita. That's quite a good look for you." Ivan laughed when Carmelita noticed her necklace missing.

"My necklace! Where's my necklace?!" she asked, feeling her throat when Phineas held out the choker-like necklace.

"This? I think this would give…" But Carmelita snatched it away from Phineas before Ivan could finish and put it back on under the neck warmer.

"It's actually my father's badge." She said mournfully. Ivan nodded in understanding and nodded to Phineas, dismissing him.

"Does he speak at all?" Carmelita asked, still trying to get used to the clothes that she would be now wearing.

"Unfortunately no; his voice box was badly injured as a child during a civil war in his home country. I found him just before I retired and helped him get the treatment he needed to get back to health. When he showed me his skills as a tailor, I brought him here to be my personal tailor. You've seen firsthand his skills." Ivan chuckled as he called to someone in the dark, lighting the room up.

"For this first lesson, you are going to try and hide yourself from me. Guards of any sort can be rather stupid for the most part. But sometimes they will have higher training and will be on the lookout for anything suspicious. I will be in the middle of this crate maze where every path will lead. If you can sneak past me and get to the other side without my noticing, this lesson is over. If not, I'll teach you how to do this." Carmelita's adrenalin began running through her in waves, each one progressively more intense as Ivan made his way to the center and called for her to begin.

"Be sure to put up your face mask. Training in full attire will help you get used to it." Ivan called. Reaching to her neck, Carmelita pulled the mask over her muzzle and as silently as she could, Carmelita walked through a path that she had chosen, coming to the center where Ivan stood with eyes closed and arms folded. With soft steps she made it half way through the center when Ivan stood over her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"You Lose." He said with a laugh. Carmelita let out a frustrated growl and stamped her foot.

"How in the world were you able to hear me? _I_ couldn't hear me!" She growled.

"Your tail brushed against one of the crates. And your steps were still a little too heavy." Ivan smiled. Hours passed as Ivan ran her through drill after drill, lesson after lesson, each one slowly pulling her away from the life of Law Enforcement that she knew and into the underworld of thieving. By the end of the second day, Carmelita hardly recognized the fox that she had become, and actually like what she saw.

"Now, there is one last thing that you need before I let you go; an alias; especially for you." Ivan announced as Carmelita pulled back her hood and took off her face mask.

"I can think of something later. Thank you Ryu for training me." She said as Ivan bowed to her in return.

"Should you need help of any kind, don't hesitate to call on me." Holding out a card to her.

"What about your granddaughter? I thought you had given up on the thieving life?" Carmelita asked as Ivan pulled his lips to the side and laughed to himself.

"Just because _I've_ stopped, doesn't mean I don't have my connections anymore." He laughed as Carmelita picked up what she had brought and began heading back for where Bently and Murray had been scoping out the Tablet.

Museum: 8:07 PM

"Murray, do you think you could get any closer? I'm having a hard time seeing where you put the camera." Bently radioed, tapping on his laptop to try and hack into the security system.

"_Sorry Bently, 'The Murray' can't get any closer without getting spotted._" Came the reply. Bently tapped on his computer and brought up a camera that was just down the street, seeing a truck lumbering down the road.

"Oh no! The Transport will be here any minute! Murray, get ready to…" Be he was cut off when a knock came on the door of their safe house. Bently froze, one of the arms on his chair reaching back and grabbing a grenade as the door slowly opened, and a shapely, black dressed figure walked in, closing the door behind it.

"Well, that took a bit of searching, but I'm glad I found you." a voice familiar female voice said. Bently hesitated for a moment when the figure pulled off her hood and pulled down her face mask to reveal that it was Carmelita.

"Carmelita! Don't ever scare me like that a… what are you wearing?" Bently asked, adjusting his glasses and taking a better look at her body hugging outfit.

"That's not important, what the status of the tablet?" Carmelita interrupted, coming over to his chair and looking over his shoulder at what he was seeing.

"R-right; Murray went to go see if he could get a move on the tablet since the truck that is going to be moving it will be here in less than 10 minutes." Bently explained, cycling the cameras that he had hacked so see that the tablet was boxed and ready for shipping at the back door of the museum.

"I'll take it from here; you guys just keep the van warm and ready to go. I'm still pretty new at this so I might be coming out hot." Carmelita said confidently, putting up her hood and pulling up her face mask as she literally disappeared into the night. Bently cued his mic telling Murray to stand down when Murray saw a shadow zip past him towards the museum.

"Yeah… 'The Murray' just saw her. Or at least what I thought was her." Once inside, Carmelita pulled herself into the shadows as much as she could, tiptoeing past armed guards, dodging the constant gaze of security cameras, and even lifting a few pounds from the soldiers as she went. Though it was kind of unnerving since she didn't have the back up of Murray or Bently at the moment. As she neared where the spot where the Tablet would have been, she only saw a blank space.

"_No! This is bad! Wait, think this through Carmelita. It's a priceless ancient tablet: all exhibits being moved in or out of a museum are always in the back at the loading dock."_ She reminded herself, making sure to watch her surroundings for anything that might be of concern. Once she was satisfied, she turned and once again slipped through the shadows. She even took down a guard that had gotten too close to her with one kick. But it was the loading dock that had her worried: there were guards everywhere, and no matter how she looked at it, she was going to have to get into a fight with at least 10 guards, all of them former collogues and rather tough looking all standing around a crate.

"_What would Sly do?_" She asked herself. Looking over to the side, she happened to notice something that looked like an old boiler. She looked around a bit, wondering if she could get it to topple over onto the guards; perhaps she wouldn't have to fight them. All the same though, she could really use the help of Bently or Murray. She was just about to try her boiler idea, when something sounded on the radios of the guards.

"All units, report to the main office. We need back up." Carmelita thought he recognized the voice, but nothing definite. One of the guards grabbed his radio and asked for a repeat of the order, but only static greeted him. With a grunt he sent half of the guard to go see what the problem was when the voice came again, this time sounding more urgent and desperate. This time all the remaining guards trotted off to follow the others, leaving the crate completely unguarded for her to grab the tablet unencumbered. Carefully and silently she crept along the walls through the shadows and to the crate, finding the crowbar and starting to pry it open when she heard a voice.

"I knew there was something strange going on when I kept seeing that turtle and hippo running around here." Carmelita whirled around and widened her stance to see Darius Hunter standing there leaning against the outside wall.

"I don't know who you are, but I assume that you're working with the cooper gang. You are under…" Before he could finish, Carmelita dove down on her hands and swept his feet from under him and was pushing herself back up to hit him again with another hard kick. Darius caught himself and jumped away with a move that resembled a break dancing move. Carmelita's hand brushed against her thigh reaching for her shock pistol but missed it making her blood run cold. She had come to rely on that pistol so much that she often thought of it as the thing that would save her in a tough spot.

Darius smirked, tightening his fist as he charged forward, throwing and hard punch but barley missing her as she back flipped onto the crate, pulling his fist from the crate and jumped up to meet her with a very relaxed stance. Carmelita tried to remember the slight bit of fighting training from Ryu, but even that was only barely enough to keep her from getting hit as Darius swept at her feet and threw hard punches.

"Well, it seems that you aren't completely without knowing what you are doing..." Darius said, fainting a move then planting a hard kick in Carmelita's gut, sending her careening into the wall.

"…but you're still new. So I won't be as hard on you as I would Cooper." Reaching behind him as Carmelita was coming back around pulling out a pair of handcuffs and snapping on onto her wrist.

"However, I'm still placing you under arrest…" Darius was taken by surprise when Murray slammed his shoulder into him and pinned him against the wall, instantly knocking him out. Carmelita put a hand to her head, trying to shake off her hit as Murray quickly came to her and picked her up.

"Come on, Carmelita. We gotta go! There are too many guards coming!" Carmelita, despite her pounding head, jumped off his shoulder and ran for the crate.

"Not without the tablet!" She shouted, pulling the splintered wood away when Darius had hit it. When she finally pulled the wood away to see the tablet, hear heart sank when she saw it broken and cracked. A noise behind her made her reach into the crate and grab the biggest piece she could see and began running away with Murray right behind.

Bently placed the last small charge in the safe house with their maps and plans then scrubbed the last bit of technical info from his computers, routers, and laptop and rolled out of the safe house unto the van. With a quick flip of a switch, the van connected to Bently's chair and drove away, skidding to a stop at the back of the museum meeting Carmelita and Murray. Bently switched the van's controls back over and rolled away giving Murray control, burning rubber and skidding out of the city. Bently rolled over to Carmelita where she sat with the chunk of tablet in her hands as they bumped and drifted through the city.

"Carmelita, what happened to the tablet?" He asked, stopping when she showed him rock that she held with a bit of writing on it. Bently's shoulders drooped, taking the stone and looking it over, pulling out a magnifying glass to better see the hieroglyphs that were on the stone that she had grabbed. Carmelita mentally beat herself up, cursing under her breath when Murray called from the driver's seat.

"Uh, guys? 'The Murray' thinks that we're not going to make it. All the exits of the city are blocked." He called, skidding to a stop in a dark alley making the sirens throughout the city chasing them. Carmelita remembered the card that Ryu had given her and pulled it from her back pocket, grabbing the phone in the van and dialing Ryu's number. When he answered, there was a laugh in his voice.

"_Already?_"

"Yes, I know it's so soon, but I need your help Ryu."

* * *

**Sorry, I know its bee a while, but I've got some drive again... i don't know how long it'll last, but enjoy it while it does.**


	3. Intro 1

Rear Garage, House of Ryu, 1:46 am

June 16th 2016

Carmelita leaned against a pillar, looking out over the oasis themed landscaping of Ivan's house, crossing her arms trying not to beat herself up too much over the fact that she had stolen something.

"It gets easier with time Inspector." Ivan said as he walked up behind her with a cup of hot tea in his hand for her, silently sipping his own.

"Thank you, but you don't have to call me that any more Ivan." Carmelita answered, putting her hands around the cup to absorb the warmth.

"It's an old habit that will be hard to break." He said just as Ivan was taking another sip of his tea.

"What was it like for you when you first stole something?" Carmelita asked. Ivan looked up into the sky, the twinkle in his eye becoming nostalgic as he sighed hard.

"It's been so many years that I can hardly remember such a time. I think the very first thing I ever stole was my grandfather's pocket watch from a pawn shop after my father sold it. My family live in Ukraine, and though we didn't have much we lacked for nothing. However my mother became I'll when a bad winter had come. We didn't have enough money to have a doctor treat her, and so my father sold my grandfather's gold watch." Ivan reached to the pocket on his vest and pulled out a fine gold pocket watch, pressing the button and flipping open the lid where a picture of a beautiful looking wolf rested.

"Is that your wife when she was younger?" Carmelita asked, moving closer to look at the picture.

"No no, this is actually my grandmother just before she was married. My grandfather actually had this with him the day he proposed to her, and it has been passed down ever since. Except when I stole it." he chuckled, closing the lid and putting the watch back in his pocket.

"My mother survived, and after I that, I began to teach myself the trade of thievery. My family of course didn't approve and disowned me soon after. At first, it felt wrong to take something that wasn't mine, but as time passed it became easier." Taking another sip of his tea, Ivan tipped the cup all the way up and drank down the last of it.

"However my career didn't take off until I found a reason to steal: those that were less fortunate back in my home country. I would take the high end merchandise I stole, sell it on the black market, and then send the money to families in need. Most considered these gifts to be from angels, others said that it was just their turn to have something good happen. That is why I became a thief." He smiled, turning the cup in his hand this way and that before turning around and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I know that you must be going through a harder time than most people since you were once an officer of the law. But don't think about it too much: find yourself a reason to be a thief, and then stick with it." Ivan smiled, patting her shoulder.

"Let's go see what Bently's uncovered." Ivan coaxed as he walked inside. Carmelita nodded, looking to the sky one last time and finding a star that twinkled just as she happened to look at it, almost like the light that would sparkle in the diamond ring on her hand. Once inside however, Bently could be heard sighing as he sat back in his wheel chair and dropped his hands to the arm rests.

"Any luck with the rock I managed to grab?" Carmelita asked, sitting beside Bentley as Murray came walking in, wiping off his face and arms with a towel after using Ivan's home gym.

"I haven't been able to get a lot, but from what writing remained on the stone, I was able to find that this tablet was made in the time ofAkhenaten, one pharaoh before Tutankhamen. Going through the Thevious Racoonous, I found that Sly's ancestor Slytunkhamen Cooper I says here that he remembers his youngest descendant being 'a bit overly confident, but a good addition to the cooper name'. However there is something rather strange later on." Bently said, composing himself once again and cradling his chin pointing to a part of the book that depicted a slender canine with glowing eyes and what appeared to be sharp claws on his hands and feet.

"The book goes on to say that this person 'had wings like that of Ra and odium that ran deeper than the Nile'. There's only one being out there that can even vaguely fit within that description, and that was Clockwerk. But he's been dead for years." Bently said making Carmelita's blood run cold: she remembered the iron clad owl and his strange obsession with Sly. But even then, Clockwerk had already been reassembled once and taken over by Neyla. Despite her deep involvement with that case however, she never did find out what happened to Clockwerk's corpse.

"Not necessarily." Interjected Ivan.

"From what I understand of this Clockwerk, he has been alive for centuries using his own hate and jealousy to sustain his life. Perhaps then Clockwerk was alive then too."

"Clockwerk himself was a giant owl. If that is the case, then why is it that this particular description is shown as a canine and not a fowl." Carmelita answered, pointing to the hand drawn picture within the book. Ivan looked over the picture, careful not to read anything else that had to do with technique.

"That… is a good point Inspector." Ivan answered crossing his arm and resting his elbow on it while contemplating the implications.

"All that aside, I was able to find a strange metallic dust on the stone. I'm not sure what it is though. All my chemical analysis shows that it's some form of a dense alloy." He said, bringing up the molecular build of the metal.

"There is only one place that I know of that would even be capable of producing this kind of alloy, and that's on the far northern coast of Germany, at least according to thief net." Bently said when Ivan interjected.

"A friend I worked with many years ago is up there; he might be able to give you better insight as to what is happening on the black side of Germany's Development programs."

"We'll need all the help we can get. I wonder what this has to do with Cooper though." Carmelita answered, putting a fist on her hip.

"I don't know, but there are only a few people that would touch artifacts like this, and the only other person to touch it was this Agent Hunter you were telling me about." Ivan replied, looking through a rolodex and finding a card with a stylized dragon's head on it as well as a stack of neatly printed 'calling cards' for Carmelita.

"Every great thief leaves their mark Vixen. And you shouldn't be any different." He smiled. Carmelita thanked him for the gifts and was about to get into Murray's rumbling van when she stopped and turned back to Ivan.

"I almost forgot, how do we find this friend of yours?" Ivan smirked and slowly blinked.

"You won't, she'll find you. Show him that card when he does. But the rest will be up to you." The smile that Carmelita received was unsettling at best, but she had her mission to rescue Sly, and that was the only thing she needed to help control whatever fear she had.

"_This thieving life is much more dangerous than I imagined._" Carmelita thought, as she sat down and the three of them raced off down the road towards Germany.


	4. Chapter 2

**I know this took WAAAAAY long than I wanted to finish, but it's finally done. There may be some errors here and there, but I was trying to hurry to get this up for you guys. I'll be going back over it in the next couple of days to fix the mistakes i find. enjoy!**

* * *

Vixen and the Gang In: Das blassreiter fur gute

Somewhere in Kiel, Germany, 11:39 am, June 19th, 2016

"Did you really have to jeopardize this entire trip for a bag of doughnuts?!" Vixen roared, punching Murray in the shoulder as hard as she could as he reached for another.

"I'm sorry Carmelita, 'The Murray' was hungry and I wasn't able to have my afternoon fruit." Murray argued, tossing another of the confections down his throat. Vixen pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. Four days traveling with the two of these buffoons was beginning to wear on her.

"How did Cooper _ever_ put up with you two?!" she huffed, rubbing her eyes to stay the dull ache of her head.

"We're family Car… sorry, I mean Vixen."

"In the last 13 hours we're broken nearly 450 laws! How can…" but in mid sentence, Vixen cut herself short, realizing that she herself had broken a few laws in stealing food and other supplies for them.

"I'm sorry guys; it's just, this thieving thing is a lot harder getting used to then I thought it would be." she huffed, putting a hand over her eyes and leaning over in the seat when she felt Bently's hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Vixen, we're all in this together and we'll help you all the way." he said. But as he spoke, he thought he could see her lip quivering just under her hand as she tried to cover her face.

"Hey, get hold of yourself Carmelita. You're doing this for Sly remember." Bently assured, turning her seat around and taking her hand down to wipe away the tears welling up in her eyes.

"I can just hear my father's voice now, saying how disappointed he is in becoming the very thing he fought against, what _I_ fought against. And now I'm one of them. How could I even face my father's grave again?" she whimpered, quickly wiping her tears away to try and regain her cool and hard composure. Bently was about to speak when something flashed across the front windshield of the van, making Murray jerk the wheel to avoid it.

"What's the matter?" Vixen asked, pulling up her hood and getting ready for a fight.

"I didn't see it. It just came and went."

"MURRAY STOP!" Bently shouted, pointing to the front where something dressed in white stood in the middle of the road. Murray slammed on the brakes, trying to keep the van in control on the icy roads, sliding towards the ever growing figure. All three of them braced for the impact that was sure to come, but the van finally found some grip and came to an abrupt halt.

"Did we hit him?" Bently asked, pulling himself upright in his chair and spinning his hat in the right direction.

"Um… I think you mean 'her'." Vixen pointed out, looking up to get a better look at the tall, fit figure standing before them dressed in a pale white outfit.

"How can you tell it's a 'she'?" Murray asked, keeping his hands on the wheel. Vixen looked over at Murray hard, slowly reaching into her back pocket and pulling out the card Ryu had given her as she stepped out of the van. The one standing before the van watched her every move with a piercing red gaze, the shadow of her sweater hood obscuring her face.

"I was told by a friend to come here and see you." Vixen said, holding out the card. The one standing before the van reached for the card, pulling it firmly from Vixen's grip and looking at the front of it.

"Zees has seh seal of zeh great Dragon seef Ryu. Are you a friendoff hiss?" she asked with a German accent, her tail waving behind her slightly.

"In a manner of speaking. We were directed here following…" The girl held her finger to her lips, looking around a bit before rushing for Vixen, grabbing her and running into a nearby alley. Murray instantly followed but came to another abrupt halt when the girl held up her hand and thumped on the corner of the hood with her fist. This one action instantly killed the van, making Murray try to restart it but was quickly met by the girl drawing her hand across her neck. Vixen struggled against her strength, trying to get free when her ears perked up, hearing what sounded like guards. They were talking in German so she had no idea what they were saying, but they seemed to be agitated and looking for something, or _someone_. When the Guards seemed to be out of earshot, the girl let Vixen go and let out a sigh of relief.

"What do you think you are doing?!"

"I'm sorry for not introdusing myself, but seh gahds heya don't take too kintly to strangehrs valking arount vissout seh proper clearance. Und if you have ziss cart, zen you must be in goot standing viss Ryu. Come, Vee must get you outoff ziss colt." She said, waving her hand for them to follow her as she walked off into the distance. Vixen felt something was wrong, but she let her gut guide her as she followed after her, Murray finally starting the van and following. It seemed like an hour later, the four of them stepped into and old warehouse where the girl pulled the door down and turned on the dim lights.

"Now, you may speak freely vissout zeh gahds hearing. Vie are you heya?" she asked, taking on a much more aggressive stance as some kind of bladed weapon silently appeared in her hand.

"We are here following a lead that brought us here in search of something. We were told by Ryu to see you when we got here, and that you would find us once we were in the area. That card I showed you was to be shown to you when you found us." Vixen answered, keeping an eye on her left hand where the weapon resided.

"Und how do I know zat you aren't heya to trick me?" She asked, lowering her stance as though readying to charge.

"I'm not, I'm simply following the clues that lead me here to this point found by my friend." Vixen answered, pointing to the back of the van when Bently pushed open the door, looked around and adjusted his glasses a bit.

"Bently? Is sat you?!" She asked, standing to her full height once again and sheathing the weapon.

"I'm not really sure how you know me, but if you could step into the light…"

"It'ss me, Adora." She said, stepping into the light more and pulling her hood back to reveal an albino red panda.

"Adora?! What in the world…" But his sentence was cut off as she ran to him, picking him up out of his chair and hugging him tightly.

"Oh, eet hass been far too long since I saw you last. Vere iss sat Sly Cooper you tolt me and Jing so much about?" she said, holding him at arm's length before setting him back in his chair.

"That's kinda why we're here Adora. You see, he went missing after a long battle with a skunk named La Paradox. That stinker tried to erase Sly all together and make himself the king of thieves. But now we think we have a clue that will lead us to Sly."

"Und vat clue brought you to siss part off zeh verlt?" she asked, when Vixen interrupted.

"Hold on one damn moment. You know her?" Vixen asked. Bently smiled and pushed up his glasses before answering.

"Actually yes, for much longer then you think. It was after the Dr. M. incident when Sly faked his lost memories. After Sly had taken up living with you, Murray and I made sure to visit The Panda King from time to time to check up on Jing, and sometimes Adroa would be there. She's Jing's cousin." He answered as the panda put a hand on her hip and pulled her lips to the side.

"So you must be zeh 'Carmelita' sat I have heart so much about. I didn't recognice you with zose close on you are wearing." Adora said as she took a small bow to her.

"But, what ees it sat brings you here? For certan it can't be zeh meny snow storms." Vixen smiled under her mask, pulling it off and relaxing a bit since she knew that Adora wasn't going to be a problem.

"I'm actually going by the name Vixen since I'm trying to break into the thief circuit." Vixen answered.

"A fitting name, but zat it such a big change for you in becoming a tief." Adora answered when Bently spoke up.

"We actually came here following a lead on Sly. As I said before, he's been missing ever since the Le Paradox incident 3 years ago." Adora raised an eyebrow, interested in their adventure and where it might take them.

"Oh? Und what kindt of lead dit you findt?" she asked as Bently brought up a hologram of the atomic make-up and a picture of some metal shavings next to it.

"This; it's some kind of metal alloy that was found on a fragment of an ancient Egyptian artifact that depicted Sly on it. Ryu directed us here to Germany to talk to you saying that he had done some work with you some time ago." Adora took a closer look at the atomic make up, rubbing her chin as she looked over each of the elements used.

"I know zis metal; it's calledt Damascus Steel. It was saidt to be a lost alloy from many years ago. During Vorldt Vor two, zare was many places researching different metals for zeh U-boats to make zem stronga. Zis alloy was one off zeh many brought to bear. But it is not entirely impossible sat zere is still some exseesting wissin zees oldt factories here." Vixen lowered her brow, cradling her chin and trying to figure out what it was that Hunter was doing with Damascus Steel. She had heard of this fictional alloy before, but never imagined that it was actually real at one point in time.

"So tell me miss Adora. How did you come to know Ryu and how is it that I've never heard of you before?" Vixen asked.

"Zose are questions better left unaskedt for zeh moment Miss Vixen. As you are no doubt avare, you are still new to zis vorldt of tiefs und have yet to make a credible name for yourself." Vixen grit her teeth but nodded; she wanted answers, but they weren't coming as quickly as she'd hoped. She felt like a first year cadet again!

"Alright, fine. Can you at least help us get to a safe house? I want to find out who's been making this stuff and what it has to do with Cooper." Vixen asked with a huff. Adora nodded and beckoned them to follow her to an old factory's main office. It was situated on the edge of an alley and overlooked the harbor as well as some old factories that were still working, belching dark clouds of smoke into the air.

"_That's odd_." Vixen thought, helping Bently and Murray bring in some technical equipment for their stay.

"Vile you are here, couldt I trouble you to help me viss somsing?" Adora asked. Vixen was getting ready to turn her down, but then remembered her time with Sly and how he would get the things he needed by helping others with their problems first, or find what he needed while helping.

"Sure, what is it that you need?" Adora reached up her sleeve and pulled out an old weathered picture of a kind but strong looking red panda.

"My fazer Merdoth vas taken by zeh forces sat have recently come, forcing him to verk in one of zeh many factories sey restartedt. I don't know vere he is or if he is still alive, but in eiser case, I vouldt like your help in findting him." Carmelita took the picture, feeling a tiny sting in her own heart remembering how for weeks after her father's death she would have given anything to have him back just one more day. With a carful wipe of her eye, she handed the picture back further agreeing to her request.

"I'll be setting up our equipment here with Murray, why don't you and Adora go and scout out the surrounding area to find anything that you can." Bently suggested, holding out one of Sly's old binocu-coms. Vixen huffed and took it, strapping it to the side of her belt as she and Adora left, climbing up to the rooftops where there was less chance of being spotted. After a few minutes, Bently's voice came over the small communicator in Vixen's ear.

"Bently to Vixen, can you hear me?' he asked. Vixen skidded to a stop on an icy roof and pressed her finger to her ear.

"I read you Bently, what's your status?" She asked, watching Adora as she stepped to the edge of the building and looked down at the street, almost as if she were watching someone.

"I've just got the com system running at the moment, but I should have the rest of the equipment set up in a moment. Grab your binocu-com and show me what you see." Vixen made sure that she had a good footing before grabbing the device and holding it to her eyes, pressing a button on the top and activating the systems within it.

"Alright, from this vantage point, I can make out three spots that should be good places to start. That Factory off to the west seems to be the place making the most smoke at the moment, so it could be where they are doing the most work, whoever _they_ are." Bently stated as Vixen panned over to another point where a group of guards were standing in front of the building.

"What about them; I don't think they will be that easy to take care of." Vixen said when she jumped back when Adora filled her field of vision.

"Vat is sat you have zare?" she asked, kneeling down to pick up the binocu-com and then looked through it.

"Zis iss nossing more zan a glorifite pair of binoculars. Zeh rezolution is mediocre at best und zeh soom iss only 15 times at most. A pair of Zese iss vat you neet." Adora said, reaching into a pocket on her suit and producing a pair of sleek, red framed shades. Vixen reached for them, but looked up at Adora with a disappointed look on her face.

"You don't trust me?" Adora asked, holding up the binocu-com.

"It's not that I don't trust you. But that binocu-com was Sly's. It's one of only a few things I have left of him." She answered. Adora nodded and handed the binocu-com back to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I understant, but if you are to make your own mark, you neet to move on to what makes you, how do you say, different." Vixen nodded, putting on the shades and finding that the tinting actually helped to clear away the foggy air from the snow.

"Vixen, what's going on?! Are you alright?" Bently called. Vixen smiled and pushed her finger into her ear, cueing her mic.

"Everything's fine Bently." Vixen answered when her glasses cued on, digital readouts appearing all around the edges of her vision. They ranged from target distance, temperature, short range radar, GPS position both horizontal and vertical, and a small picture with a 5 times zoom in the upper left corner.

"What did you do Vixen? What am I looking at?" Bently called in panic, another small picture coming up in her upper right hand corner showing Bently madly typing away on his computer.

"I didn't do anything." Vixen answered as Adora smiled as she slipped on her own white rimmed shades and pressed the side of the arm.

"Don't vorry Bently. I gave Vixen a spare set of my own personal Shade Scanner. My set found an unrecognized signal and tracked it to zeh binocu-com. Iss now synced vith your signal und vill transmit all zeh data sat you see." Adora explained while Vixen was trying to get used to the amount of data displayed to her.

"I know a vay to geht around dose soldiers." Adora smirked, turning around and jumping from the roof, grabbing onto a nearby drain and sliding to the ground. Vixen followed close behind, keeping a close eye on the guards as the two of them snuck to a man hole cover. Looking around, Adora picked up the cover and motioned for Vixen to get in. She didn't want to go into the underground because of the smell that often accompanied said places, but she needed to get into that factory and so took a breath and jumped in.

To Vixen's surprise, the giant pipe was dry and the air was just as clean as the air outside. Adora joined her after lowering the cover and jumping down with her, putting a finger to her lips and waving her hand forward. For a few minutes, the two of them wound through the underground tunnels until Adora pointed up to another cover where the both of them could hear the sounds of machinery thrumming above. Vixen motioned for Adora to stay put and clambered up the ladder and peeked in.

The data in her shades came up sometimes locking onto different pieces of equipment whole zooming in to certain areas that Vixen would stare at for a short time. When she was sure that there was no one around, she slipped out of the drain and disappeared into the shadows. As she stood for a moment to think of her next move, Bently's voice crackled over the headset.

"Vixen can you read me?" Bently said. Vixen flinched a bit when the volume made her flinch and pull the ear bud out. She quickly looked around hoping that no one heard the static filled transmission.

"Yeah Bently, I hear you." She answered after putting the bud back into her ear.

"Don't scare me like that Vix! I lost your signal for a good 10 minutes!" Bently almost shouted.

"Adora showed me a way into the factory. But honestly I have no idea what I'm supposed to be looking for." Vixen replied, looking around from her perch where she had decided to hide.

"Well, we're looking for anything that will show us where Adora's father is, and who it is that has been making this Damascus Steel. Perhaps in looking for her father, we'll find what we need. Try looking for an office of some kind; that may be where worker or prisoner files may be kept." Vixen nodded, and jumped down to begin her search. The strange part about this particular factory though was the face that every machine was being operated by itself: there was no personal interaction with any of the machines. The strange thing was that as Vixen passed by some of them, a feeling of irritation would well up within her only to die away when she passed it.

Sometimes there were guards patrolling the halls making Vixen duck into the shadows above them to avoid their flashlights and being seen. As she traveled, she happened to see a hall where a few guards stood near a single door marked 'personnel only'.

"Bently, are you seeing this?" Vixen whispered as the camera zoomed into the guards as they stood around.

"I sure am. Golly that has to be it." Bently said as he tapped away on his keyboard when the image of Bently on the right split and showed an image of Adora.

"I don't doubt zaht you have goot fighting skills, but even you are no match for zat many guards. If I'm not mistaken, zose look like seh guards of Benedict Schwartz, zeh leader of seh Tod Strae gang. You don't vant to take zem het on."

"A few law breakers don't scare me." Vixen said confidently.

"You don't get eet. Zeese guys are not like zeh criminals you are used to. Zey vill make sure you die one way or anoser." Vixen growled in the back of her throat, thinking through her options that might get those guys away from the door. But there was nothing that she could think of.

"_What would I do?_" Sly's voice in her head said. She looked up, half expecting Sly to be crouching next to her. But she was disappointed when only the dark kept her company. But Sly's voice was right: what would he do in a situation like this?

"_A distraction!_" she thought, looking back to the machinery.

"Bently, can you see a consol of some kind?" Vixen asked, making sure that she could see as much of the machinery as possible.

"There is a control consol straight ahead. What are you thinking of Vix?" Bently asked as he tried to find schematics.

"If I can mess with the machinery, I think that I could get those thugs away from the door." Vixen answered, creeping through the overhead corridors to the consol.

"Are you sure you don't need back up?" Murray asked excitedly.

"Stand-by big guy. I may need some help, but not right this moment." Vixen answered, slowly making her way to the floor so as not to make any noise while Bently helped her. Just as she was getting ready to finish with the modifications, a voice coming down the hall made her abort her attempt and immediately jump back into the shadows. With sharp hunter's eyes, she waited and watched as she could hear the silhouettes coming down the hall talking about something. As the voices became clearer, her Shade Scanner zoomed into the shadows and amplified the sounds coming from them. To her dismay, they were speaking in German.

"_Damn I wish I'd paid closer attention in that class._" Vixen thought, when the word 'listening' scrolled across her vision. Three dots after the words scrolled through a few times when the word 'translating' flashed into her vision. The words that were being spoken for a moment were still in German when they became clear for Vixen to understand.

"Ich habe dir gesagt, können wir nicht tun anything until we've completed the first batch! This isn't like you normal alloy you can mix and dump." The first voice said. The second voice with the person started speaking in German when the translator kicked in: it sounded familiar. But there was an overtone of someone else speaking as well.

"And I am instructing you to use what you have created and finish this part. Don't let there be any further delays: you have the schematics so I expect results Rousseau." With that, the second shadow slid away while the first continued to come closer, pulling out a cell phone and checking a text. He was a distinguished looking lion, with streaks of black in his mane, he soldiers guarding the door let him pass without so much as a nod while he went in while Bently crackled over the com system.

"I think I can find who that was. Just gimmie…"

"I know who it is Bently. His name is Leon Rousseau; a small time forger I busted in France about a year ago. What's he doing all the way over here in Germany?" She asked rhetorically, a stab of guilt washing over her when she thought about the life of Law Enforcement that she had left behind. Once she was sure that Leon was inside the office for a while, she snuck down to the consol again and began to mess with the controls once more, finishing within a few seconds. The changes she made caused a chain reaction within the machines as first the production rate began to spike, then pistons began to heave and buckle until something inside made a loud thump. Vixen had already run into the shadows near the door, watching with a smirk as the guards ran to see what the problem was. While they were busy, she jumped to the ground and began to pick the lock on the door when a hand wrapped around her mouth, pulled her up into the shadows and held her still.

"Don't move." Move a voice said, holding her tightly when Vixen looked down to see Leon come out of the door with someone else, the appearance of which sent chills down her spine.

"When do you think the next shipment can be ready?" Leon asked as he escorted who Vixen thought to be The Contessa from the room.

"I told you that I need a few more days. Some of the new machinery you brought me is being a bit more stubborn than I previously thought." Vixen out of habit reached for her Shock pistol, but stopped when she took a closer look at the spider. She sure looked similar to Contessa, but it was now obvious it wasn't her.

"Duchess Alcina, our master is getting impatient. I doubt that he will hold back his growing agitation much longer." Leon answered as Alcina turned back to him, lowering her height and putting her arms on his shoulders.

"Now now, there's no need to fret. Once I can bring them under control, the shipment will be ready in a matter of hours." she answered, smiling sensuously before giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"In addition, I think our scientist will be much more cooperative once we have the girl." She hummed as they disappeared around the corner in into the shadows. Inwardly Vixen shuddered as she watched them leave when the hands around her let her go.

"You shouldn't be in such a hurry. You missed zem coming out!" Adora hissed, wagging her finger in Vixen's face before jumping down and opened the lock herself while Vixen followed and began searching the desk and filing cabinets for any kind of files.

"Vixen, Adora can you hear me?" Murray said, sounding a bit concerned about something.

"I hear you Murray, what's up?" Vixen answered, opening a folder and checking the contests before putting it back and looking for another.

"How are you guys coming along? 'The Murray' is getting worried."

"Don't get excitet Murray; vee are looking srough everysing here to fint a folder zat…"

"Adora, I got it! Merdoth Hark; it looks like whoever is pulling the strings here has had their eye on your dad for quite some time. They were after his metallurgical knowledge to create the Damascus Steel. According to this though, he's been pretty stubborn in making the alloy's formula. And look, they have a picture of you." Vixen turned the folder around and showed Adora the picture of her as a child smiling at the beach.

"So zis is what he was after. Zey're planning on using me to get my faser to do zere bidding. That picture iss from well over ten years ago, so I don't sink zey are expecting me. Does it say vere zey are keeping him?" Vixen read through the folder, trying to find a tidbit of information, scanning through page after page to find something that would indicate where he was being held. As she was coming to the end of the last page, she began losing hope until she saw what appeared to be a note with the words 'Factory A3, Wing 4' scrawled across it.

"This has to be it." Vixen said, taking the note, she and Adora quietly left the room and ran back to the drain cover they had used to get in. But they slid to a stop when the area was crawling with guards.

"What happened? There weren't this many guards before!" Vixen hissed.

"Maybe your messing wiss zeh machines put zem on a high alert." Adora answered, pulling Vixen into the shadows so as not to be spotted.

"Hey Murray? I think we could use that help now." Vixen radioed. Murray could be heard running around over the mic, grabbing his gloves and putting on his mask before jumping out of the door. But in his excitement, he forgot to grab a coat, putting his arms around himself and running through the drifts to the factory.

"Bently, 'The Murray' needs a little help. What should I do?"

"Just do what you do best Murray, we need to get them out of there fast! There's no telling how many reserve soldiers there are!" Bently shouted. Murray cracked his knuckled and neck, making a huge grin spread across his face, repeatedly slamming his fist into his palm as he approached the factory.

"That's all 'The Murray' needed to know." He grinned, rushing to the first of the guards, grabbing him by the collar and hurling him into the other. No sooner had he finished with them, then he was already running into the building for the next set of soldiers. Inside the building, Vixen and Adora could hear the sounds of Murray's destruction, patiently waiting for their lovable hippo friend to come into view. Within a few minutes, Murray could be seen looking around for the two of them, melting out of the shadows and running with him back to the front. As they were getting ready to exit the door, Darius Hunter stepped out from behind the wall with a few FBI agents standing around him.

"Well well well, it appears that you've decided to take a different road in life." He said with a pompous swing in his words. Murray was about to retort when Vixen grabbed his arm, shaking her head to him when he looked back.

"It looks like I've caught myself a huge haul. We have Blassreiter Adora, Murray the Muscle, and the newest of thieves, Vixen. Or should I say, Inspector Carmelita?" he asked haughtily. Vixen clenched her jaw hard; She had managed to slip past Darius without him finding out who she was in Egypt, but she knew that it would only be a matter of time before someone found out who she was.

"How about this; you come with me, and I'll make sure that none of what you've done in the past week will ever come to light. I'll even make sure that you can be re-instated as an Interpol Officer." Darius offered, but there was something amiss in his yellow eyes.

"What's the catch Darius?" Vixen asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Adora, Murray and Bently all give themselves up." Vixen clenched her jaw tighter, thinking about all she had given up, and all that she had gained up to this point by giving up her life in law enforcement.

"I'll pass." She said with a growl. Darius snickered and put his hand to his hips, looking up into the sky and shaking his head.

"I was hoping that it wouldn't come to this; How the mighty have fallen. Carmelita Montoya Fox, I hereby place you under arrest for…" Vixen didn't allow him to finish his sentence, running up to him, crouching low and launching her leg up to his chin. But Darius almost looked to move with unnatural speed, bending backwards to avoid the hard kick. Adora leapt at a guard, pinning him to the ground before knocking him out. Murray reached out his hands, grabbing two of the soldiers and slamming them together.

Vixen narrowed her eyes as she began thinking through her moves when she felt a stiff kick in her gut as Darius hit her with his own foot. Adora reached out as Vixen was thrown back, keeping her from hitting the ground while sweeping her leg where Darius was about to land. Darius tried to correct when one of his own officers was thrown into him and knocked him into the wall.

"Let's go!" Murray shouted with Adora and Vixen behind him when a loud pop thundered in the alley and a hot pain seared through Adora's calf. A second and third pop cracked in the air but exploded the snow in front of them when Adora tripped and fell, the bullets zipping past her head. Murray turned around and slammed his fist in the ground, making Darius loose his footing from the shaking Murray created. Vixen put herself under Adora's arm and began helping her away as fast as she could while Murray kept Darius off balance long enough for them to get away. As soon as Murray was sure the girls were safe, he turned tail and ran as fast as he could, disappearing into the snow storm that had been brewing. Darius was finally able to stand after that giant hippo stopped his assault, holding up his pistol ready to fire at him when the white out covered his existence. Darius threw his pistol against the wall turning his head to the sky and letting out a livid scream so loud that his throat hurt.

"Captain, what do want us to do?" one of the soldier asked, rolling his shoulder to get the sore feeling out of it.

"Set up a perimeter, seven miles. Call in support if you need it. Nothing gets away from us." Darius gowled.

"What about the factory? If Carmelita and the others were in there, it has to be relevant to our…"

"Leave it. I'll take care of it personally." Darius huffed, turning and walking into the factory with purpose as though looking for something.

"Master, what are you doing back here so soon?" a sensual female voice asked. Darius stopped, turning to where the voice was coming from to see a shapely spider woman creeping towards him.

"How can you call yourself superior to your teacher Contessa when you allowed Vixen to slip past you?" Darius asked, his eyes creating a faint yellow glow around them as he spoke.

"Wasn't the plan to allow them in and grant them access to the information?" Leon asked, walking up to Darius in a smoking jacket with a glass of a fine white wine in his hand.

"While you were trying to make the office appear important, you forced them to shut down a vital alloy processing machine. You, Duchess, are the only one with the power to make these machines. As it stands, it appears that you are having trouble bringing the machines I am bringing you under control." Darius looked to Alcina, baring his teeth and reached for his spare pistol and held it to her head, cocking back the hammer.

"You have one week to finish, or I will finish it myself." he sneered, pulling the trigger as the hammer fell on an empty chamber. Alcina smirked as Darius lowered his gun and walked out of the building when a pain filled scream echoed through the building.

"Are you sure that you can't find a way for them to be any quieter?" Leon asked, taking a sip of his wine.

"The repurposing process isn't always pretty, and it is never quiet." She said with a smirk, chuckling under her breath as she turned around and began walking back into the shadows of the factory.

* * *

Vixen and Murray came running into the factory with Adora over Murray's shoulder, setting her down in a chair as Bently came over and began assessing her wound.

"I knew I should have made you remain while I set up the equipment." Bently sighed as he wrapped Adora's leg once he was sure that the bullet was no longer in her flesh.

"There was no way to know that something like this was going to happen Bently." Vixen comforted once he wrapped Adora's leg.

"There is always a way to plan for something like this Vixen. Things like this happen when you run in without a plan."

"That's why you always must be flexible, Inspector." A voice said while a looming shadow walked into the room. Vixen brushed her hand against her thigh missing her pistol while Adora jumped up and took a fighting stance.

"Easy Blassreiter, I'm here to help." The voice said, coming into the light and revealing Ivan holding his hands up.

"Meister Ryu, it iss goot to see you again." Adora smiled.

"Ivan, what are you doing here?" Vixen asked, relaxing once she was sure that she was not in danger. Ivan put his hand down and put his hands into the pockets of his black jacket

"Not long after you left my home, a gentleman calling himself Darius Hunter came a paid me a visit asking if I had seen you. He was especially interested in your friends here Murray and Bently. I tried to get here before he did to warn you that he was on your trail, but it looks like He beat me to it." Ivan said, motioning towards Adora's leg.

"I was sure that a scrubbed everything that we had to leave no trail as to where we were going." Bently said, going back to his lap top to check the encryption codes on the routers and portable mainframe in the van.

"I don't think that your normal methods are going to work Bently. I did some checking on this Agent Hunter. Apparently he has four degrees in computer science and programming. It would take three of Bently to slow him down."

"Then what would he want with Damascus Steel?" Vixen asked, thinking about what it was that she saw in the records for Adora's father and what she heard Leon and Duchess talking about.

"I do not know, but if we're to get any answers, we neet to get my faser back." Adora stated, wincing a bit when the adrenalin wore off and the pain in her leg came back. Ryu raised an eyebrow but didn't press any further when his eyes happened upon the note that Vixen had brought with her.

"Where did you get this note?" Ryu asked, picking it up and looking over the writing.

"It's the only clue I've found leading us to Adora's father fight now." Vixen said. Ivan handed the note to Bently who then began using a surveillance satellite in the area mapping out the part of the city they were in. Within a few minutes he was jacked in and zooming into the city before announcing his plan.

"Alright, I have most of the layout of this city, but I can't get the finer details. There appear to be some troops near the facility where we need to go on the north end of the city. Car… I mean, Vixen will take some surveillance photos of the front of that factory. Murray and Ivan will be scouting soldier movements and shift changes while Adora and I will be here watching you from the satellite."

"That sounds good to me." Ivan chimed when he happened to notice the hesitation in Vixen's face.

"What's the matter inspector?" he asked, putting a hand on her back for re assurance.

"Is this… is what I am doing right?" she asked. Bently and Murray both stopped their preparations and looked back at her, the entire room becoming thick with silence.

"Zis was your choice vas it not Vixen?" Adora asked, sitting down in a chair next to Bently.

"Yes but…"

"Is a life on zeh run not vhat you vere hoping for?"

"That's not it. I…"

"Zehn vaht iss it? Vie are you hetsitating like zis?" Adora drilled until Ivan faced her and put his hand out to tell her to stay her malicious questions.

"When I started all of this, I just wanted to get Sly back. But in the past week, my rap sheet has become so long that I don't think that even a deal with the F.B.I. would be enough. I just feel like I'm sacrificing too much of myself." Vixen lowered her gaze and hugged herself as the war within her mind was becoming all too much. Ivan sighed and sat down beside her, folding his legs over one another and patting his knee.

"Come, sit, malenʹka dytyna." Ivan said with a smile in his voice. Vixen looked at him with questions in her eyes, but listened and sat on his knee as Ivan put a hand on her shoulder once more.

"When a butterfly goes into it cocoon and comes out again, do you think that it is an easy journey?" he asked. Vixen slowly shook her head.

"It is not. But who the caterpillar was before it went into that cocoon and who it is when it comes out as a butterfly never changes; you too are going through a transformation. I know you must be at war with yourself between your former life and your current one." Ivan held out a finger, touching the tip of his claw to her chest.

"But who you are in here, is what will never change. From yesterday to tomorrow, you are still going to be that hot headed justice loving fox we all know. You will just be using those same tools for a different line of work. You aren't giving up anything Inspector, you are who you are." Vixen let the words Ivan had told her sink in, and thought back to when she and the Cooper gang had gone to the old west. It was there that she realized both Sly and her fought for justice, just on opposite sides of the law. Now she was still fighting for that same justice, just not in her usual capacity.

"Does that give you some clarity?" Ivan asked watching as Vixen nodded and stood with a huff. Everything in her being was screaming at her that what she was about to do was so very wrong; breaking and entering, vandalism, theft. But it was all to get Sly back, and she hoped in the back of her mind that he would take her with him once she had him back. Slipping on her shades and took a camera that Bently held out to her as she scampered up the roof, disappearing into the night. Ivan and Murray too mad sure they had what they needed and headed out, watching every corner for signs of soldier that would hamper their scouting.

As Vixen jumped from roof tip to roof top, she would sometimes stop and hide in the shadows when a search light would pass her way. Once she was sure the light would be away for a moment, she began again Bently's voice came over her com.

"_Vixen, she was you can do about those search lights, their making it harder for Murray and Ivan to move around."_ he crackled. Vixen huffed, knocking that her photos were going to take longer to get, but knew that their part was just as important. With a silent leap she jumped to a guard tower, kicked the guard unconscious and quietly shut off the light. Just as she was about to leave the guard's radio crackled with an angry sounding voice coming through. Vixen turned back to the light, swinging her leg hard and yanking the power cord from the back of the light.

"_That should keep them from turning it back on."_ She thought, when she saw one of the other lights swing in her direction.

"_Crap!"_ she whispered, hiding behind the light casting, keeping as still as she could hoping the light would simply just go away. But as the minutes dragged on, she could hear other voices over the radio, and it sounded like they were coming her way. No sooner had the radio transmission ended, than she could head footsteps on the metal ladder coming up. Shutting her eyes, she wondered if her adventure was going to end just as it had begun with her no closer to finding Sly when a thought struck her.

"_Wait! What about that Night Walk trick Dragon taught me?_" With only a few moments to spare, she wasn't sure she'd be able to pull it off, but she crouched into a running position and then shot into the dark just as the Guard was coming up into the tower.

"_Ok, If I'm going to keep cover better I need to wait to turn off the lights until the Guards are down._" She thought running along the roof tops until she came to the second tower, swiftly knocking the guard out, along with the third and fourth towers.

"_What took you so long?_" Ivan asked over the com.

"I ran into a little problem, but it's been taken care of." Vixen answered, jumping into the night and heading for the front of the factory. She clicked off a few photos before turning back for the hideout when she heard a shout of commands in German coming towards her.

"_Vixen, Murray, Master, you needt to get back to base now! A battalion of soldters are headed your way! Somesing tipped zem off, move, move, move!"_ Adora shouted over the com. Vixen reached for her leg and her shock pistol, but froze. She remembered what had happened when she tried to stand up to Agent Hunter and how Adora was injured. A whole Battalion would be something that she couldn't take on. Turning tail she began running as fast as she could through the streets back to the hide out. Before reaching the hideout though, she thought it best that she should try and circle around before going there to shake and possible tails, one of the most prominent lessons that Ivan had taught her. Once she was sure that nothing was following her, she made her way back to the safe house.

"Alright, now that we're all here again I'll start with the plan. With the pictures Vixen got and with the patterns that Ivan and Murray were able to find, I've come up with the plan called 'Operation Metal Head'." Bently said, wheeling over to a more open space as a holographic projection popped up.

"Now, in order for this to work properly, we'll need well time precision on all fronts. The guards move in a grid-like pattern, starting east to west and then north to south. We'll have to use the streets instead of the rooftops since there are too many searchlights being used. We should be able to avoid contact with them if we start our moves at midnight, just after the guard change. Be careful not to get into a fight with them at all costs; these guys aren't playing around with their AR-15 Assault rifles." Bently warned, pulling up a picture of the rifle.

"Once we get moving, there won't be much time to turn back. I caught a radio transmission from Darius Hunter while you were taking pictures, and he's called in additional forces. They should be here about 10 minutes after midnight." Vixen sighed as she looked over the plan.

"That doesn't leave a lot of room for error Bently." She commented, to which Bently slyly smirked and flicked the rim of his hat.

"Oh ye of little faith Vixen. Murray will head to the far side of town to cause a major distraction should we need it. I'll be here monitoring your progress through the security system of the factory to help you navigate. Once inside the factory, you'll need to head to the west wing, which according to my scans, should be Wing 4 where Adora's father is being held. Once there, you should be able to open the doors and escape the same way you came with her father in tow." Ivan raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"This all sounds a bit too easy Bently. Are you sure you've thought of everything?" He asked.

"I would like to be able to plan more, but with Darius Hunter baring down on us there isn't enough time. We have to move with what we know." Bently answered, disappointment in his voice.

"I'll be sure and run interference if you need it." Ivan offered.

"Thank you Ivan. Now, get your things ready. We move in 15 minutes."

Outside the Safehouse, 23:59 hours.

"_Alright, final coms check. Ivan…"_

_"I'm here Bently."_

_"…Murray…"_

_"'The Murray' is ready to go!"_

_"…Vixen…"_

"I copy Bently."

_"Alright, the guard change is complete, begin operation on my mark. Go!"_ Swiftly Vixen through the streets, stopping in the shadows here and there and pressing her back against a wall as a searchlight would go by. Tapping her shades she saw that she was a few seconds ahead of their time table, finding a good hiding spot and waiting for her proper cue.

"'_The Murray' is in place."_ Murray radioed.

"Good work big guy."

"_Alright Vixen, wait for my signal. Go." _Just as Vixen was about to jump from cover and tumble across the road, when her shades pinged a bright red dot on her Radar. Quickly she scrambled for the shadows and calmed her breathing when three more red dots pinged on her radar.

"_Vixen, vat iss wrong? Vie haven't you moved?" _Adora asked. Vixen dared not speak as two armed guards walked past her, aiming their rifle mounted light down the street for a moment before moving on. Carefully Vixen peered around the wall she hid behind to see a guard standing before her. Her mind raced through the training that Ivan had given her, but she couldn't remember how to take down an enemy silently, that is, if she had ever had the lesson. She was about to attempt it on her own when a large shadow rushed past her, grabbed the guard around the mouth and slammed the side of its hand into the guard's neck, knocking him out instantly. The shadow stood and walked over to where she was before kneeling before her, revealing that it was Ivan.

"I'm sorry Inspector for not giving you the Silent defeat lesson. I shall teach it to you once we have the time. Go, I'll watch from here." Ivan said, watching as she silently jogged to the building only to be stopped again.

"Drat!" She hissed, cuing her mic.

"Bently, can you hack the lock on this door? It looks to be a key card lock." She said, looking around to ensure that no one was coming.

"_Sorry Vixen; that lock is on a closed system. I have no way of getting to it without shutting down power to every factory. Maybe one of the guards has a key card."_ Bently suggested. Vixen sighed with a hiss; more pick pocketing? But without that card, there would be no way of getting into the building. Sneaking around the compound, she picked a few pockets of the guards and found the key card, but as she was sneaking away back to the door, she heard a familiar voice laughing. With a single leap, Vixen jumped to a nearby balcony to see where the voice had come from to see the spider woman she had seen before, The Duchess. She glanced around before swiping her own card and entering the building.

"_Now why would she be going in there?"_ Vixen wondered. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, she jumped down and made her way to the door, swiped the card and ducked in before anyone could see her.

"_You do know you're now 2 minutes behind our…_"

"Can it turtle, I'll make it up somewhere. Now which way is the west wing?" Silence followed for a few moments. Vixen could imagine Bently madly searching through the building schematics for what she needed.

"_It's to the right. Are you sure that you don't need help from here?_" Bently asked. Vixen took a breath before answering.

"No Bently, I'm good." Clicking off the com, she began slinking through the shadows of the factory, making sure to avoid the guards that were constantly patrolling the area. When the shadows were too far apart to sneak through, she would use the Night Walk that Ivan had taught her to flit through the light to other shadows. As she went further and further into the building, she began to hear screams of others, and a rising feeling of irritation coming over her. At last she had come to what she thought was the center of the operation; luckily there were no guards anywhere allowing her to step into the area unhindered. What she saw surprised her, and gave her a rather uncomfortable flash back.

In the center of the room was a table, where someone was strapped down, writhing in agony. The Duchess stood over them, holding her hands over the person His screams slowly became hollow until they stopped altogether. When the duchess stepped aside, instead of a person, Vixen saw a piece of machinery. No sooner had that happened, then someone wheeled out the machine, and another person was brought in and strapped down.

"Don't worry, I'll help you so that you will never have your life of crime anymore." She whispered to him, reaching to a control board beside her. Vixen's flash backs to when she was strapped to The Contessa's table to have her mind controlled reached its peak. She jumped down, startling The Duchess and keeping her from pressing the button.

"Well well well, it seems that we have a little lost puppy here, Inspector." She said smoothly, turning around and crossing her arms. Vixen said nothing, slowly reaching down to her leg, but once again reminding herself that she no longer carried her shock pistol.

"I don't know exactly who you are, but it is of little consequence." Vixen grit her teeth and clenched her fist when her eyes met the man's on the table. They were wide with fear and panic as he tried to quietly struggle free. Something jingling caught Vixen's ear making her look to his wrist to see a prisoner's I.D. bracelet.

"What have you been doing to these people?" Vixen demanded. The Duchess grinned and looked at him from over her shoulder.

"Oh him? Ha! Your inferior mind can't comprehend what is being done here. My master has plans far beyond what you could imagine." Vixen stood up straight and shifted her weight to one leg, placing a hand on her hip.

"Indulge me." Vixen smiled under her mask. The Duchess sighed with an irritated breath, walking to the far side of the room allowing Vixen to silently step to the guy strapped down.

"Very well, I'll dumb it down so you can understand. I had heard of The Contessa's conquest while she was part of Interpol. When I heard she had retired, I wanted to take her place and so looked her up at her real-estate firm. It took some time, but I eventually wore her down to teach me her methods. I took what I learned from her, and enhanced them with my own powers of transformation. Not long after that, my master found me and introduced me to Leon Rousseau. Rousseau's forging affinity allowed us to find prisoners that were being transferred and redirect them here." The Duchess turned around sharply, startling Vixen as she straightened from trying to free the guy on the table.

"Those prisoners were then given to me, and I turned them in machines for making Damascus Steel. But we need more of this steel quickly, and if you interfere, my master will be very put out." Duchess ominously raised her hand, her sharp claw-like hand ringing as she opened it wide, the metal blades attached to it scraping against one another.

"So before that happens, I'll make sure that he never knows in the first place." Almost before Vixen could react, the Duchess was upon her, bringing down her hand hard. Vixen barely managed to jump back, avoiding the sharp claw as it slammed into the ground. Using her Night Walk, she flashed to another part of the room only the move again when Duchess' claw came down again. Vixen jumped back again, but ran into the wall, ducking down when Duchess swiped at her neck. Duchess was sent flying when Vixen drove her feet into her chest, tumbling on the floor into the wall.

Duchess' legs scratched and scraped against the floor as she got up. Just as she was standing, Vixen swung her leg hard into Duchess head, throwing her across the room. Duchess tried to get up again, but in her dazed state didn't see Vixen come at her again. Once again another powerful kick sent Duchess careening into the wall. With a loud frustrated shout, Duchess caught her footing and rushed Vixen once more, swiping her claws down hard. Vixen managed to avoid the first swipe, but the second caught her off guard. The Duchess' claw grazed the top of her arm, tearing through some of the fabric and leaving a scrape on Vixen's arm. The sting made vixen caudle it when her arm began to heavy and stiff.

"What did you put on those blades of yours?" Vixen hissed. Duchess laughed holding up one of her arms.

"_On_ them? Darling, please, that is no ointment; that is my power. With just a touch I can turn _you_ into a part of a machine. But this will be quicker." Duchess shouted, her eyes becoming wide as a beam of energy cam shooting out. Vixen dove out of the way, but the bottom half of her right leg was caught into the beam. Just as her arm, her leg began to feel stiff and heavy as if it had fallen asleep.

"_I can't let that beam hit me._" She thought, noting that for the short time Duchess was using her beam, she couldn't move.

"_I'll have to get her while she uses that beam. It's my only shot." _Vixen struggled to get to her feet once again, especially with her numb leg. Duchess came rushing as Vixen a couple more times, and when she began using her beam once more. Vixen used her Night Walk to get closer faster, but because of her leg it didn't work as much. She did manage to get close enough in time to plant a hard kick into Duchess' head, throwing her to the ground. Dazed, Duchess struggled to her feet once more, but her moves were slower and not quite as accurate. Again and again she would try to hit Vixen with her arm or her beam, and again she would be thrown to the ground.

With one final solid hit from Vixen, after both her arms were completely stiff and her right leg began to look like a steel 'I' beam, Duchess was knocked out. Instantly the effects on Vixen wore off and she could finally move again.

"I'm glad that's over with, now to find Adora's father." She said to herself, walking through the double doors she had seen the previous unfortunate inmate be taken through. As she went, she could hear the sound of machinery slowing down, replaced with uncomfortable groans and shouts. As she rounded the corner, she could see row upon row of bubbling vats containing molten metal. Beside them hundreds of machine parts began to have faces, arms, legs, torsos. Some breaking free from their mounting points and running around while others lay on the ground slowly regaining their previous forms. Vixen took a wide stance at the door and reached to her thigh.

"Alright all of you, put your hands…" But she stopped herself when her hand once again missed her pistol, reminding her that she was no longer the agent she had known.

"All of you, get out of here as fast as you can. The cops will be here soon." She shouted instead, cringing at her on words as so many international criminals just ran past her.

"_Vixen come in. Whatever you are doing you need to move fast, those reinforcements are almost here. Murray tried to stop them, but he had to run. Ryu too tried slowing them down, but he only got one truck."_

"I know I know! I'm moving as fast as I can but I Don't see Adora's father anywhere!" She shot back when a metallic voice echoed through the entire building.

"Adora? You know vere my daughter Adora ees?" Vixen lowered her stance and shot into the shadows, looking around to see where it was the voice had come from. The voice chuckled and spoke once more.

"Don't vorry, I'm not going to hurt you. I heard you talk about my daughter and vas surprisedt zat you knew her. I've never seen you before, andt any police database I have access to doesn't show you." the voice said. Vixen swallowed hard as she came out from her hiding spot, still looking around for where the voice was coming from.

"_Sat's my Fazer! See if you can findt vere he ees!"_ Adora shouted over the com, making Vixen wiggle her pinky in her ear.

"I am in zeh back. Keep following zah aisle you are on. I'm behindt zeh last vat." The voice said again as light began flickering in the direction the voice had indicated. Vixen quickly turned when she heard the sound of a metal door from behind her clap open quickening her light steps as she ran to the back. What greeted her was almost enough to make her gut turn; embedded in the wall was a red panda surrounded and infested with metal tubing wires. There were circuits and plates on her face as well as one of his eyes being mechanical. His arms stuck out only at the wrist, and what skin did show was again infested with wires.

"Hello zere. I take it you are sah one zat knows Adora?" He asked, his head turning to her with the sound of actuators humming.

"Yes, I Actually came here on a mission of my own and was asked by Adora to find you. Are you Merdoth Hark?" Vixen replied, looking over what he had become.

"Ah, zat sounds like Adora. Yes, I am he." He smiled, looking away from her seeming to be deep in thought.

"_Vixen, let me talk to my Faser. Just put zeh shadts on his face."_ Vixen agreed, talking the shades from her face and placing them on Merdoth, listening as the two of them talked for a while in German. Something caught Vixen's ear making her slink back into the shadows away from the door. As she waited silently, she could the see the rifle mounted lights swaying back and forth on the floor and the organized sounds of boots trampling through the storage area. When Merdoth was satisfied, she caught Vixen's attention allowing her to take back the shades.

"Vicksen, eet hass an nice ring to eet. Listen, zeh moment you entered zis facility, sere hass been a self destruct sequence in motion. I have done my best to keep it from counting down as I vatched you knock out Duchess." Vixen's eyes went wide when she heard the news of a self destruct and began franticly looking for a way to move him.

"Listen Merdoth, I came here to get you out and that's…"

"It's no use Vicksen. I vas Duchess first attempt as transformation. As you c'n see, eet vas not zeh best of outcomes. Ven I vatched duchess go down und zeh ozers begin to regain zere form, I hopedt sat I vood too. But as you can see, zat is folly." Sounds of the soldiers moving closer made both of them look over as the lights came nearer.

"I can't leave, but take zis." He said, as a disk spit out from what appeared to be a disk drive.

"Give zat to Adora. Now go, run! I can only holt zeh self destruct for about 20 more seconds! RUN!" he urged. Vixen Was about to turn tail, but hesitated. This isn't how Sly would have dome things! He would have found a way to bring his home! But the sad realization that she couldn't do anything about it struck her when Merdoth looked at her with sad rage and shouted.

"FUHREN SIE DUMMES MADCHEN!" he shouted. Vixen didn't understand his words but understood his feeling, turning and running as fast as she could back through the factory. She darted from shadow to shadow, knocking out guards and she ran to keep from getting slowed down. Merdoth grinned darkly as the soldiers neared him, their rifles trained on his face as the countdown on a small screen beside his head neared zero.

"Live auf Blassreiter, live auf." He muttered, closing his eyes as the counter his zero and a high explosive charge detonated on one of the vats, sending a flood of molten metal everywhere. Vixen felt the ground shake below her feet, and dared a glace behind her to see the river of molten metal coming after her. Her legs were already tired from her fight with Duchess, her lungs burned and her chest left like it would explode. But she had to keep running! As she went, she remembered that the door needed a keycard to open from both sides. But with a river of death behind her, there wouldn't be time to grab the card and open the door. She did the next best thing she could, charging one of the guards running with her, grabbing his rifle and began shooting out the keypad.

As she ran, she felt a rush come over her and everything seemed to slow to a crawl allowing her focus to the extreme on the keypad. Six well placed shots shorted out the pad and unlocked the door as time sped up once again. Bursting through the door she ran a few steps before collapsing in the snow. Ivan was nearby and saw her collapse, picking her up and running back to the safe house. Not long after he disappeared into the snow Darius and a team of trained SWAT members walked through the snow up to the front of the building.

"Team one, Team four, spread and on search. Team two and three, go in the last direction we saw them going. I'm sure you'll find something. If not, get to the roads leading out and stand guard. Nothing in, nothing out!" Darius commanded as the SWAT gave a grunt and left for their assignments. Meanwhile Darius walked up to the cooling slab of swirled black and grey metal, swinging his hand through the outer layer and hurling a glob at a nearby sign, ignoring his burning hand.

"I thought I told you that it had to be finished within the week." He growled, turning his eyes to the left as Alcina Duchess walked up to him, part of her clothes tattered and burnt.

"The little wench was getting in the way. Besides that, she has a wicked right kick…" Duchess' words became nothing more than grunts and garbles as Darius grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the wall. Leaning in close, Darius sneered between his teeth as something looked to rise from his shoulders in the shape of wings.

"I don't want to hear your excuses! I asked you to make me a large order of Damascus Steel. But you've only given me enough to make _one_! Now all of this is in ruins all because you couldn't take care of one little fox!" He seethed, dropping her to the ground before pulling back his fist and slamming it into the side of her head, knocking her out once more. With a hard breath he calmed himself, straightened his hair and tie then drug Duchess out to the street and into the swat truck, a pair of cuffs firmly around her arms.

"Leon may have escaped for now, but I'll catch him sooner than later." Darius sneered to himself, slamming the doors shut and patting the side of the truck. If one was all he had the materials to make, then one was all he was going to use.

Ravensburg, 3:06 AM, June 20th 2016

The gang had scrambled as best they could, deleting all their programs and wiping the routers before getting Vixen and disappearing from the town to hide. Vixen and Adora sat in the cold on top of a roof while Bently decoded the disk given to Vixen by Merdoth.

"Adora, I'm sorry for not…"

"Vixen, don't. I know you didt all you couldt searching for my faser. I sank you wiss all my heart. He toldt me zat there was no way he'dt be able to return. Something in Duchess experiment hadt gone vrong und turned him into zeh sing he vas. He vas more machine zen anysing, and cutting ghim from zeh powersupply vood have kilt heem." Adora said, closing her eyes as tears stung the edges of her eyes. Vixen sighed and set a hand on her shoulder as Ivan came walking up to them.

"Bently has cracked it you two." He said as then came down to where Bently was typing away. Murray was already asleep in the driver's seat, sometimes snoring loud enough that the sides of the van would vibrate.

"Your father was a genius Adora. But I managed to get past his encryptions and found this packet for you." He said, pushing up his glasses and tapping enter. What appeared to me short movies began playing across the screen, each of them from a first person's view. Some depicted Adora as a child while others showed the three of them doing something else, or playing in a field.

"What are these?" Vixen asked.

"Zey are hees memories." She said, wiping a tear away as each of the movies played, all of them staying silent until Merdoth's face alone came up. Ut this time it wasn't the twisted horror that he had become, it was _his_ face speaking in perfect english.

"Hello to you. If you have successfully decoded this disk then you should be seeing these memories. I know I may seem strange, but this was all I had time for. From what I had access to, I was able to find that whoever is running this is trying to build something, a machine of some sort. Within my capacity, this machine required huge amounts of Damascus Steel as well as numerous orders for high-end technology from an unlisted tech firm." Images of order sheets came up on the screen, some including orders for circuit boards, chips, processors, and capacitors.

"I was made into the main computer regulating the production of this alloy because of my extensive metallurgical knowledge. Some of the components listed on these sheets were installed within my body as well." Bently crossed his arms and huffed.

"Well, for everything that he's saying, he hasn't told us anything about what he's trying to get at!" he shouted, making Murray snort, adjust himself in his seat and return to sleeping.

"Let heem keep talking, I'm sure he will make his point soon." Adora urged, listening to the recording.

"I did a self diagnostic only to find that the components were custom made and designed to harness not only massive amounts of computing power, but also something else that I couldn't identify." Diagnostic scans came up on the screen making Bently sit up and look them over, rubbing his chin.

"Again, I only have limited access in this body, but I did manage to find the company making these components is a few miles south of Tokyo, Japan. I'm sorry if this information is rudimentary at bestm but it was all I had to offer. Farewell, Adora, you will have these memories and so much more for as long as you keep this disk." Merdoth's face winked off the screen leaving the pictures and diagnostic information on the screen. Bently searched the disk for any of the video file that he had just seen to replay it. But scan after scan revealed that no such video file ever existed on the disk to begin with.

"Well _that_ was strange. I've never had a ghost file like that. I've heard of a ghost drive, but never a ghost…" Bently was stopped when Vixen put a hand on his shoulder, pointing him to where Adora was standing with the disk in her hand, holding it to her chest.

"eet waz my fazer just saying goodtbye." She said, tucking the disk away in her pocket.

"What do the Diagnostics say Bently?" Ivan asked, trying to make sense of the line upon line of technical words piled onto one another.

"Well, lets have a look here. Yes… well that goes there… Oh it's a Sub-net root with a trojan… no no no, that can't be right… but…" Bently looked closer at the code as he scrolled through it, taking in everything that he saw until he reached the end, simply staring at the final line of the diagnostic: Ki_Transference=true_Amplify_root_6

"This isn't any ordinary tech. Someone is trying to create a computer that can use magical abilities. The only time we had any kind of magic encounters was when The Contessa tried to wipe Vixen's mind, or when The mask attached itself to her face."

"Why would anyone need a computer that could do that?" Vixen asked, moving her hand across the screen to a photo of a order form that had a shipping address in Japan.

"This is all getting very strange for me." Ivan said, leaning away from the van and holding his chin.

"I still have a contact in Japan that might be willing to help us. In the meantime, we can use my old safe house here to rest." Ivan said, walking to the street and looking around to make sure no one was around.

"How far away is it? I doubt Murray would be able to get us there." Bently asked, pointing his thumb at Murray as he slept in the driver's seat.

"It's not far, just down this alley a bit. We could even push the van there." He said and Vixen, Bently and Ivan pushed, while Adora steered them to their resting place. They had a long journey ahead of them, and they would need their rest whenever they could get it.


	5. Intro 2

Tokyo Car Garage, 7:48 PM, June 23rd, 2016

Vixen was the first to stir awake, reaching her hands high above her head as before sitting up. Her hand landed on a news paper from Germany showing pictures of Darius Hunter bringing in The Duchess to prison. She tapped her shades and translated the article, which stated that it was unknown what the woman was doing, but that it was being thoroughly investigated. Leon was mentioned as another perpetrator but that he was still on the run and had evaded capture in the mean time.

"_I suppose this is what sly always knew when I was chasing him._" Vixen chuckled to herself. She put the paper down and took off her shades, staring at them for a while thinking back to Adora. The poor girl had lost her father, but at least she still had her mother. She said she was going to give up her thief life and help her mother out any way that she knew. But Vixen had a feeling that she wasn't going to quit the life that she had spent so many years in. As Vixen sat up, a knock came on the back door of the van.

"Inspector, are you awake?" Ivan asked, his shadow looking to stand with his back to the van.

"If you're talking about my eyes open then yes." She answered with a chuckle. The van rocked a bit as Ivan pulled his weight off the van as his shadow turned to the side.

"If you can pull your body out of sleep within the next few minutes, I'll teach you how to perform a silent takedown on the next level." Ivan said. Vixen agreed, sitting up and rubbing her eyes to pull the sleep from her body. Within a couple minutes Vixen emerged from the van, stretching hard and breathing in the salty and cool air. Her vision came across Murray and Bently still snoring in a tent beside the van.

"So, are you ready?" Ivan asked, sipping on a warm cup of his favorite tea.

"Would I need to warm up?" Vixen asked. Ivan smiled to himself and set his tea down.

"It would help, but no, it isn't needed." He said, lacing his fingers and cracking his knuckles.

"Now, the most important thing is to remain unseen. A target that doesn't know is one that won't have time to fight." Ivan began, racking his neck side to side and shaking his hands while walking behind Vixen.

"You do realize that I'm half your size?" Vixen asked, raising her eyebrow and shifting her weight to one leg.

"While I was in my prime, I remember seeing you take down a thief three times your size before he knew about it. Add to that your power house legs and you have a perfect recipe." Vixen raised her brow and tilted her head down with even more apprehension.

"Come, I will show you." Ivan motioned, showing Vixen how to stand as though she were a target. Her entire body tensed as she readied for the impact, but he still took her by surprise when his hand wrapped around her mouth and felt his knee bump against her back. For a quick moment her legs felt weaker.

"The hand around their mouth will keep them from screaming and the knee in the back is a pressure point. It short circuits the leg nerves and lets you drag them to the ground." Ivan pulled hard on her mouth to the ground, but just before she hit, Ivan caught her.

"Once their legs are done it's just a matter of throwing them to the ground. The impact should knock them out." Ivan explained, standing Vixen back up and turning around.

"Now you try. The tricky part is hitting the nerve." Ivan said, standing wide and relaxing a bit. Vixen sighed, looking up to how high Ivan's face was and jumped at him, reaching her hand around his mouth and driving her knee into his back. But instead of Ivan coming down to the ground, Vixen hung from his neck.

"Well you've got the power down, but you're off by about an inch. Try again." Ivan grunted, rolling his shoulder a bit from the impact. Vixen tried a few more times, but the more she tried, the more she found she was only hurting Ivan.

"You have a back like Iron." Vixen groaned, kneeling down and rubbing the top of her right knee.

"If you can just find that nerve, your knee drive will pretty much incapacitate everything below the chest. You have some powerful legs." Ivan commented, rolling his shoulder and bending his back when Bently came rolling up.

"Hey you two, I think I've found something. Back in Germany, there were a line of trucks caught in one of the pictures Vixen took. I just saw one of those trucks heading down the road after tapping into the street cameras." Vixen came over to his wheelchair as Bently activated the computer in the arm to show what he saw.

"And how is this interesting to us? Those trucks could be from anything." Vixen answered shortly.

"The truck had turned into a temple." Bently said, pressing play and showing the truck turning into a driveway at the back of a temple.

"Now why would a truck from a smelting factory making Damascus Steel be coming to a temple in Japan?" Vixen asked. Bently began madly typing on his keyboard, bringing up the diagnostics of the chips Merdoth had given them.

"This part here, this Ki Transference: From what I was able to find out, Ki is supposed to have something to do with Life Force. I don't quite understand it all: it all sounds like a bunch of mumbo jumbo to me. But somehow these trucks, this temple and the computer chips are all connected." Bently said, putting up pictures on his screen. Ivan cupped his chin, rubbing his cheek with his finger.

"From what I know, making computer chips that tamper with life would be against what the monks believe. Whatever's going on in there can't be good." Ivan said, turning back to the side of the garage, picking up his tea and sipping on it. Vixen pulled on her sweater and adjusted the sleeves.

"Sounds like we got some rogue monks on our hands then." She smiled, pulling up her mask.

* * *

**Updated to match the game a little better.**


	6. Chapter 3

Vixen and the Gang in: Ninja Tech

"Well… if that's the case then we'll need to see if we can get into that temple." Bently said, typing madly at his computer to check other cameras that were in the area

"Well how are we going to do that? We can't just walk through the front door." Vixen pointed out, checking her equipment and making sure she had her shades. Ivan placed a hand on Vixen's shoulder.

"Normally I would be agreeing with you Inspector. However, in my experience a temple such as this is open for anyone to come to for prayer. There shouldn't be any reason barring you from entering at least through the front." Vixen raised her eyebrow as Bently thought it over when Murray spoke up.

"I think I still have Madam Geisha's outfit from when we went to see Rioichi." Murray said, jumping into the van and beginning to look through it for his famed costume.

"That isn't what we need, especially here Murray." Ivan reprimanded, lowering his brow in agitation and shock.

"Why not? 'The Murray' can pull this off easier than cracking skulls." Murray answered, flexing his arms hard.

"Because it would be a gross offence to this culture sending a geisha to a temple such as this. This will require much less grandeur." Ivan scolded, making Murray shrink back slightly. Ivan took a breath and pinched the bridge if his nose.

"Look, I'll go and see what I can." He said, walking down to the street level, looking around and adjusting his shirt to make sure that no one of note was watching. Just before he was about to turn into the front entrance, he stopped and had to look closer across the street. There before him was someone that he could have sworn was dead standing on the street corner: Constable Neyla. He had heard of her exploits while working in Interpol to reassemble Clockwerk's body with Arpeggio, but had also heard that she was killed during that whole fiasco.

"_What is Neyla still doing alive?"_ he thought. Though his thoughts were interrupted when another truck drove across his vision, and when it was gone, so was Neyla. Ivan looked around a bit, trying to find her again when Bently's voice cut through his thoughts like a knife.

"Hey Ivan, are you alright? Why'd you stop in front of the temple?" Ivan looked around a bit more before shaking his head.

"It… it's nothing. Just thought I saw someone. I'm heading in now." Ivan fibbed, turning in and walking up the steps quietly taking in all the sights around him. As he walked though, there was no sign of where those trucks had gone. There weren't even any security cameras anywhere. Once he was at the top of the stairs, he carefully made his way in, looking around everywhere for any indications of what may be going on. Upon reaching the main building though, a baboon appearing to be the head monk approached him. Something about him made Ivan feel rather weary and uncomfortable.

"Can I help you sir?" He asked. Ivan lowered his brow and looked over him once more, noticing that something was hidden in his sleeve and that his shoulders were tense. Ivan turned his attention back to the shrine and began to fold his hands.

"I came here to offer a few prayers for my ancestors." The monk raised his eyebrows and put a hand on Ivan's shoulder, gripping it slightly.

"I'm afraid that this shrine isn't open to the public, so I must ask you to leave." Ivan looked down to his hand, studying a strange scar on his thumb and looking back to the monk's face. He seemed familiar but was just beyond Ivan's reach.

"Why? I am simply here to…" Ivan's protest was cut short when the monk forcibly turn him around and half pushed half guided him to the steps, walking him all the way down to the road.

"Please do not come here again. I would hate to use more convincing methods." The monk said, turning around and walking back up the steps. Ivan felt bewildered: there was something going on in that temple, and it was big enough that he wasn't allowed anywhere near the temple in the first place.

"_Ivan, are you there?_" Bently's voice came over the com.

"I'm here, what is it?" Ivan asked, pressing his finger into his ear.

"_While you were going there, my thermo-scopic scans turned up something VERY interesting._" Ivan raised an eyebrow and waited for Bently to continue.

"_There was a rather interesting heat signature coming from the alter were you would throw in your offerings, Almost like it was a heat vent or something._"

"Now that _is_ interesting. Let me get to the hideout before we discuss anything further; something tells me that we're going to be under watch." Ivan suggested, turning around and looking back up the stairs. And then there was the moment he thought he saw Neyla. Something strange was going on, and he was right in the middle of it.

* * *

"Who was that Mandrill?" He asked, looking over the conveyor belt of microchips being made and loaded into a padded box. Mandrill came down the stairs, taking the monk's robe from around his shoulders and hanging it up on a hook.

"It was no one of noting; an old wolf that came to pray. I promptly escorted the idiot to the bottom of the stairs." The one looking over the chips stood and walked before Mandrill, his yellow eyes glowing in the low light.

"You in all your intellect, you didn't notice who it was?" the man asked, making Mandrill feel agitated as he neared.

"He had a slight accent from the Ukrain." The one looking over the chips huffed as his pointed ears lay back, and a second note of voices began to surface as he spoke.

"You fool! That was Ryu, the one helping the Cooper gang and their newest member Vixen. She's the one that destroyed the Steel factory!" Mandrill found himself pinned against the wall as two large gorilla came walking up behind him.

"Hey, uh, take it easy there boss. Remember, we kinda need him." He turned his eyes back to the gorilla that spoke and narrowed his eyes, anger began to permeate all of them as though it were radiating from him. At last he took a breath and released his grip on Mandrill, calming himself and straightening his jacket.

"You're right Julian. I must remember that this is only a temporary arrangement." He said, stepping into the light and pulling Mandrill to his feet, while at the same time stepping into the light.

"I just want to make sure that you remember your end of the deal Darius Hunter!" Mandrill growled. He remembered when this Doberman had unburied him in the collapsed Cooper Vault, promising to excavate it in exchange for the use of his advanced intellect.

"I haven't forgotten Dr. M. Remember, I have your criminal file; I can easily make you become the worlds most wanted with just a phone call. That inspector Carmelita Fax will be nothing compared to the force coming after you." Darius grinned, turning around and leaving. Mandrill growled, but returned to his work of making the bio-mechanical computer chips, as well as his crown jewel; a single chip that translated emotion into an endless supply of restorative energy and mechanical power. Darius had given him a detailed schematic of the chip's inner workings and circuitry. However as Mandrill continued to work, he could help but feeling that he had seen this chip and its conversion properties somewhere before.

* * *

"Alright, I was able to get some dirt on this temple, and my sources say that someone had taken it by force. They said that the head monk was told that he was behind on his rent, and that the only way to remedy the situation was to hand over his temple." As Bently explained, he showed pictures across his holographic projector as he usually did.

"He did so, but when he went to the city hall to clear up the situation, he was told that he wasn't behind at all. When he tried to ask for help in getting it back though, there was no record of him having it in the first place. My sources also say there is a new Interpol graduate on the case, following leads of Black Market electronics being transported in high end sculpture forgeries." With a swipe of his hand, Bently brought up a picture of the famous Venus de Milo, but with some slight deformities as it was a forgery itself. The very next photo that he brought up was that of a face that Vixen thought she recognized.

"Hold on there Bently. Let take a closer look at that officer." She said, stepping closer to the screen as the gears whirled within her mind, trying to figure out where she had seen someone so familiar looking.

"Holy camotes! That's Detective Winthorp!" She Vixen said, looking over the trim and well built weasel that he had become.

"Winthorp? Who's that?" Murray asked, looking over him again. Vixen chuckled to herself, looking over the photo and seeing that her shock pistol was strapped to his leg.

"Jonathan Winthorp was a shy intern working at the Interpol Office while I was there. Some of my other coworkers had told me that I should talk to him because apparently he had this crush on me. I was always so busy chasing after Sly though, I can't help but wonder now if I should have talked to him at some point to, you know, let him down easy." She said, when Murray put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Vixen, Look at him now, I'm sure he's doing fine." he said. Vixen flinched a bit as he spoke; she was still getting used to the way that Murray would talk kind of loud. Ivan stepped forward and pointed to the screen.

"Bently, you said this officer was in town?" He asked.

"That I did. Perhaps he knows a thing or two about what's going on with that temple."

* * *

**Small update to keep things on a roll! More to come. yes there are mistakes, they will be addressed.**


End file.
